New Terrain in YDEV

 Advocacy and Social Justice 

Ginwright and Cammarots's critique

I do agree with Ginwright and Cammorot's critique on youth development. I believe that to fully understand the youth and for them to be successful we need to take into account the social forces that affect them and the oppression within their community. We need to understand the envionemnets in which the youth are coming from and what is affecting their physical, social, emotional, and psychological well being. We cannot blame the youth for their challenges and behaviors but rather dig deeper into the overarching issues in their communities. I really like the word mentioned in the reading "Praxis". Freire stated that critical consciousness and social action is known as "praxis" which is reflecting on the world and how we can change it. This approach to me, is a great way to help the youth. They are facing many adverse problems that they need to understand and contribute the change so that the "toxins" in the community can be eliminated. The word "toxins" was mentioned in the reading. It was mentioned that these toxins are not just physical toxins like bad air quality or lead paint but they also include mental toxins including violence, oppression, poverty and many more.By addressing these toxins and recognizing the oppression within communities the youth are able to really dig deep and  contribute to the change needed. They are also able to contribute to the systematic change needed. This method of youth development does not hide the negative parts affecting the youth, instead it addresses it and makes the youth more aware. In the long run I believe this approach can lead to the youth becoming great advocates for change and can overall allow them to live a healthier lifestyle. 

The social justice approach to youth development has some similarities but has some important differences. Social justice youth development is concerned about the social and economic forces that affect the youth. These forces lead to oppression which but the youth are guided to be able to advocate for the change necessary. This approach to youth development is to really get the youth thinking about the systems around them that could use reform and it addresses that the youth are affected by them even if they do not realize it 

This video was very powerful and actually made me cry at the end. Kimberly Jones starts off by explaining protesting, rioting, and looting in 2020. She then made the comparison of the game Monopoly to the lives of African Americans and other minorities. She said to picture playing 450 rounds of monopoly and she does not let you own anything or have any money. Instead she gets all the money, the properties, and you buy properties for her. This is how people of color feel at this very moment. From the beginning of time they were working for white people making money for nothing in return. Fast forward to 2020 and they still have nothing. They do not own their communities or have equal opportunities. Their rights are still taken away whether we realize it or not. The ending also stuck with me when Kimberly said something like "They're lucky we are looking for equality and not revenge". Kimberly Jones mentions the oppression faced by these communities and compares it to monopoly to demonstrate the severity of this oppression. She was really able to get the point across in this way and as she is a woman of color and faces this oppression everyday.