Black youth mobolize to form political agenda
Jamisha Purdy/NNPA Special Correspondent
Issue date: 11/23/08 Section: Politics
WASHINGTON (NNPA) --The silent giant awoke on Election Day. America's Black youth dispelled their once apathetic political posture by translating pre-election passion into a powerful turnout on Nov. 4. The election is over, but this new political demographic has declared that the work is not done.
''Within the next 100 days we will really be mobilizing even harder,'' said Keri Fulton at the eighth annual Black Youth Vote Civic Leadership Training Conference, held in the nation's capital last week. ''Election Day was just the beginning. I will continue to work for the next four, hopefully eight years, to make sure Obama is the best president we've ever seen in this country.''
As president-elect Obama transitions to power, Black youth are taking their civic engagement to the next level -- building an agenda. The youth from around the nation met at a three-day meeting in Washington to hammer out details of an agenda on the state and national level, as well as strategic ways to push the agenda.
Melanie Campbell, president and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, said that Black youth already understood there was a need for change, but ''now it's time to connect the dots in the political process.
The priorities on the agenda include affordability of higher education, health care, the job market and the environment.
Carmen Berkley, president of the U.S. Student Association, has a $90,000 student load. She college is ''too expensive.''
''In Canada they go to school for free, and in Europe they basically go to school for free,'' she said.
Jacqueline C. Ayers, a legislative representative for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said health care is disproportionately affecting African-American youth. Despite the $2 trillion a year spent on health care, 44 million people are still uninsured, said Ayers.
''When we look at the reality of the lives of our young African American youth, we don't need a lot of statistics to tell us that the HIV-AIDS epidemic, teenage pregnancy rates and sexually transmitted infections, impact disproportionately communities of color," she said.
''Within the next 100 days we will really be mobilizing even harder,'' said Keri Fulton at the eighth annual Black Youth Vote Civic Leadership Training Conference, held in the nation's capital last week. ''Election Day was just the beginning. I will continue to work for the next four, hopefully eight years, to make sure Obama is the best president we've ever seen in this country.''
As president-elect Obama transitions to power, Black youth are taking their civic engagement to the next level -- building an agenda. The youth from around the nation met at a three-day meeting in Washington to hammer out details of an agenda on the state and national level, as well as strategic ways to push the agenda.
Melanie Campbell, president and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, said that Black youth already understood there was a need for change, but ''now it's time to connect the dots in the political process.
The priorities on the agenda include affordability of higher education, health care, the job market and the environment.
Carmen Berkley, president of the U.S. Student Association, has a $90,000 student load. She college is ''too expensive.''
''In Canada they go to school for free, and in Europe they basically go to school for free,'' she said.
Jacqueline C. Ayers, a legislative representative for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said health care is disproportionately affecting African-American youth. Despite the $2 trillion a year spent on health care, 44 million people are still uninsured, said Ayers.
''When we look at the reality of the lives of our young African American youth, we don't need a lot of statistics to tell us that the HIV-AIDS epidemic, teenage pregnancy rates and sexually transmitted infections, impact disproportionately communities of color," she said.
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