Youth and Violence Forum

On May 21, the UCCP held the Youth and Violence Forum. At the event, youth from various organizations including the Southeast Philadelphia Collaborative, The Norris Square Neighborhood Project and the Temple Youth P.O.W.E.R Internship presented their anti violence initiatives. Jamira Burley, Business Major at Temple University, presented her Peace Core initiative and Hamid Floyd, a Telecommunications Major, also at Temple University, screened his video "What is Violence". Representatives from Motivos magazine, Change X magazine, the Philadelphia Fund for Children and Professors at Temple University also participated at the event.

Dwight Evans Civic Leadership Summit

For the past two years, the UCCP has been collaborating with Pennsylvania State Representative Dwight Evans' Office to support their annual Civic Leadership Summit (DECLS). This year's DECLS included teams from Martin Luther King, Imphotep and Parkway Northwest High Schools. The high school teams, with guidance and support from Temple students acting as collegiate advisors, developed public policy initiatives aimed at solving problems that affect their communities and schools. This year's summit, held May 16th and 17th at International House, showcased solutions to problems like suicide among African American youth and the need for effective recycling programs and improved environmental education.

Hip-Hop and the Community

On May 14, UCCP hosted a film screening and discussion on Hip-Hop and the community, presented by three Philadelphia youth who focused on Hip-Hop as the topic of their high school senior projects. Ted Lacey and Madea Gboyah's documentary "Hip-Hop Effects" explores the effects of the negative messages of the genre through interviews with peers and adults. Tyrone Jones's "Lyrical Controversy" delves into the historical development of Hip-Hop music, addressing cultural and economic factors that influenced the genre's changing messages. Jones, a VOICES participant from Spring 2007 and Lacey and Gboyah, current VOICES P.O.W.E.R. Interns, used UCCP resources, including camera, editing equipment and post-production assistance to make their films. The screening was followed by a lively discussion and debate between youth, parents and community members in attendance.

Temple Youth VOICES First Annual Community Press Conference

On Saturday, May 10th, the UCCP hosted the first annual Temple Youth VOICES Community Press Conference. The event featured a range of dynamic, multi-media presentations summarizing the accomplishments of Temple Youth VOICES participants over the past year. A diverse group of panelists, including a Temple Youth VOICES alumni, a representative from the Philadelphia Freedom Schools, a Philadelphia public school teacher and a member of the UCCP's Leaders Corps provided formal feedback on a wide range of youth driven initiatives presented at the Press Conference. Parents, family members, youth leaders, community organizers and members of the Temple University community who filled the audience were solicited to spread the word about the amazing work Temple Youth VOICES participants are doing to address the issues that impact them, their families and communities.

UCCP Has Strong Presence at Eastern Regional Conference on After-School

Dominic Eason, a member of the Leaders Corps and Barbara Ferman, Executive Director of the UCCP, participated in a workshop on “Diversity in High School After School Programs” for practitioners and decision makers from Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania. The Workshop focused on various approaches to effectively engaging youth in out of school time activities while building their leadership capacities and academic competencies. Dominic Eason was also part of the plenary panel on “Youth and Youth Workers” offering his insights into the ingredients of quality after school programming. The annual conference was hosted by The After-School Institute (TASI). Held in Baltimore on May 8-9, the conference attracted close to 500 practitioners, decision makers, funders and youth participants from the Mid Atlantic region.

The American Red Cross - Disaster Preparedness Summer Camp

The UCCP worked for over nine months with the American Red Cross, Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter, to develop a new youth leadership initiative. The product of this exciting project based collaboration was a week long summer camp focusing on disaster preparedness for youth ages 12 to 16. The “Save a Life Camp,” named by the Red Cross youth involved in the initiative, was not only planned by a dynamic team of young people, but was also coordinated and ran by them. The “Save a Life Camp” is a great example of how to work with youth and support their development to promote leaders within organizations.

For more information go to: >>http://redcross-philly.org/ProgramServices/YouthServices

A Proposal to Launch the Country's First Public Service Academy

On March 26th, 2008, the UCCP, together with the Department of Political Science and the College of Liberal Arts, hosted a talk by Dr. Chris Myers Asch on his proposal to launch the country's first Public Service Academy. The Academy is a national initiative to build a civilian counterpart to the military service academies. The proposed Academy, which will offer four years of tuition free education in exchange for five years of civilian service following graduation, has the support of more than 110 members of Congress and has been highlighted by Time Magazine as one of the top ten ideas the next president should embrace to reinvigorate civic life. Over 40 Temple students, faculty, UCCP staff and VOICES internship participants attended the talk, raising some key questions about the nature of the proposed Academy, its recruitment strategy, its location, its ability to change public service and the like. Overall, it was a very lively and thought provoking discussion.

Art for Social Change - A Women's Series

A touring exhibition devoted to the art of Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) will be on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from February 20 through May 18, 2008. Organized in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Kahlo's birth, it will present approximately fifty paintings from the beginning of her career in 1926 to the year of her death in 1954. The Frida Kahlo exhibition includes loans from over thirty private and institutional collections in the United States, Mexico, France, and Japan, several of which have never been on public view in the United States. Frida Kahlo is the first major presentation of the Mexican artist's works in the United States in nearly fifteen years.

Given the importance of this exhibit and fundamental role of art in society, the Temple Youth VOICES project was more than excited when the opportunity presented itself to collaborate with the Philadelphia Museum of Art in creating a group of young women to participate in art workshops and discussions about identity and the role of women in society.

This group will meet twice a week from January 15th through February 7th at Temple University. Art for Social Change - Women's Series will conclude on February 24th with a visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for an exploration of the Frida Kahlo exhibit.The work produced by these young women in the context of our workshops will also be displayed at the museum and to make this project even more exciting, there is a proposal to create a mural which may include pieces of art created by them. The mural, which will be created by artist Cesar Viveros, will incorporate the ideas and concerns of these young women; in a perfect example of how art goes from the very personal -identity- to the very social -a mural in the city of Philadelphia.

Temple Youth VOICES Winter Showcase

Temple Youth VOICES Project participants showcased their accomplishments over the fall semester at a recent event held in the Student Activities Center on Temple's Campus. Dynamic groups of young people engaged the audience in a range of interactive activities designed to foster dialogue around issues of importance to youth. They also introduced several project proposals for the spring semester. This year, VOICES participants are gearing up to tackle the following issues:

• Making sex education in schools more interactive and responsive to young people's experiences, perspectives and concerns
• Exploring the influence of drugs on families and communities
• Investigating the impact of incarceration on families and communities

VOICES from the Experiment in International Living

“My first venture outside of the country's border was fantastic,” says Saeed Briscoe of his summer in Chile. Saeed is one of four Temple Youth VOICES participants to earn a scholarship last summer from the Experiment in International Living (EIL). Over the past five years, through a strong and growing partnership with EIL, VOICES participants have traveled to Italy, Spain, Japan, Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina, France and England. Rather than visit these countries as a tourist, the Experiment challenges young people to become part of the families and communities that host them, and provides opportunities for them to take part in a wide range of challenging activities, including community service, language instruction, outdoor education, and film and media arts production.

Although each of our scholarship winners has had a unique experience, they all come back with the same underlying message: Living in another country is life changing. Like her peers, Wyneisha Barrett was profoundly impacted by the weeks she spent in Spain this summer, “I've learned to live life to the fullest,” she reflects. “Whether it was in taking my first airplane flight, or speaking out to my group when I felt like something wasn't done properly, I've learned how to be more confident in myself, because what I have to say is important. I'm so grateful that I was chosen to travel abroad this summer. It truly helped me evolve as a person.”

Each year, 10th and 11th grade VOICES participants are eligible to apply for a scholarship with the Experiment in International Living. For more information about the program, see http://www.usexperiment.org or contact Tony Allen at 1-800-345-2929.