Who am I
by Destiny Madison, RYSE Member
Who am I
A person who’s scared for being their self
Who am I
A person who tell people to be their self but I’m scared for being myself
Who am I
A person who’s scared of judgement
Who do I want to be
A person that’s not afraid to be their self
Who do I want to be
A transgender person that can be free from Judgment and be their self
Who do I want to be
A person that’s going to help people who struggle like me and tell them
it’s okay to be yourself and don’t let anybody tell u different
VISIBLE & VIBRANT
RYSE Pryde 2021 celebration kicked off this month with a POSE theme! As we POSE with RYSE we would like to honor the Ballroom Culture born out of the Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ community in NY. The culture goes beyond the extravagant events. Participants also belong to groups known as “houses,” a long standing tradition in LGBTQ+ communities of color, where chosen family, familial relationships often formed in place of estranged family, live in households together. Each post we highlighted a different member of the LGBTQ+ community and the amazing work they’ve done, all in the theme of the TV show POSE!
RYSE would like to educate youth, allies, and the larger community on the respectful ways to address LGBTQ+ community members, and all people. When communicating about and to one another through speech and written language, pronouns are commonly used to indicate a person's gender or self identified expression of who they are or are emerging into. If you are not sure how a person identifies, show respect by simply asking, "What are your pronouns?, or announce your pronouns, and then ask, What are yours?" Essentially you are asking "how do you like to be addressed, spoken to or spoken about?" It shows your respect for their individuality and self expression. Follow their lead, and if you make a mistake, apologize, recognize, and keep respecting one another.
Danez Smith (they/them) is a Black, Queer, Poz (HIV+ Positive) Writer & performer from St. Paul, MN. Their work encompasses race, class, sexuality, faith, and social justice.
Danez Smith embodies love, joy and justice. They remind us of the power of our existence and ground us in our joy, love and healing. They remind us that the personal is political, and that we have every right to show up in our whole self, always. We hold their poems, stories, and lived experiences with a tender and loving heart. We are moved and inspired by their artivism, self determination, autonomy, performances, writing, and their playful soul. We thank them endlessly, for creating spaces for LGBTQ beloved communties to exist, love, express and feel rage, thrive, heal, and to be seen. RYSE Youth Center honors and recognizes you, Danez, for shining a vibrant light on the intersectionalities of the LGBTQ+ BIPOC existence.
Cara Page (she/her) is a Black Queer Feminist cultural/memory worker, curator, and organizer. For the past 30+ years, she has organized with Black, Indigenous and People of Color, Queer/Trans/Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Intersex/Gender Non-Conforming liberation movements in the US & Global South at the intersections of racial, gender & economic justice, reproductive justice, healing justice and transformative justice.
Julio Salgado (he/him) is a gay Mexican-born artist who grew up in Long Beach, California. Through the use of art Salgado has become a well-known activist within the DREAM Act movement. Salgado uses his art to empower undocumented and queer people by telling their story and putting a human face to the issue. Ryse Youth Center honors and salutes you, Julio, for increasing the visibility of the Undocumented LGBTQ+ Community when no one tells their stories.
Lulu (she/her) is an avid leader and activist for Queer BIPOC Youth in the Bay Area. Lulu is also a member of the Alphabet Group at Ryse Youth Center and does her best to stand up to and for the injustices experienced by LGBTQ+ youth and youth of color. Lulu has many interests, some of which include travel and gaming. RYSE Youth Center honors and celebrates you, Lulu, for remaining vibrant in dark times!
JUNE EVENTS & PROGRAMMING
In a collaboration between Richmond organizations NIAD Art Center, East Bay Center, Richmond Art Center, and RYSE, we held the event "Out of the Mouths of Beings", hosted by Richmond’s own Youth Poet Laureate, Sheila McKinney. Featuring spoken word, dance, music, visual arts, and movement, we kicked off the summer with a moment of community building, love, and togetherness in the virtual space. Click the video above to watch a clip of RYSE members’ contributions.
RYSE’s Music Production AMP celebrated our interns’ amazing artistry with the release of RYSE’s first virtual mixtape. We kicked it off with an afternoon filled with music, games, and good vibes!
A night full of games and community builders, RYSE celebrated Juneteenth
Our Youth Organizing staff are co-facilitating a summer cohort titled Richmond Youth for Abolition, a continuation of our Youth Organizing Summer Academies at RYSE! Applications just closed.
The Richmond Youth for Abolition Cohort at RYSE will learn about the roots and core values of abolition, centering Richmond’s hxstory, art, culture, healing and resilience as key principles for creating our freedom futures. As they learn how policies are created and implemented they will develop a transformative campaign that will meet the needs of a social justice issue in Richmond. Youth will also develop core values for youth power models, accountability and ways to resolve or navigate conflict and harm.
To learn more about our programming or future leadership opportunities for youth, please contact us at info@rysecenter.org and follow us on social media.
We Decide, We Win: Building a Healthy Richmond
Throughout the years we have partnered with local organizations and committees to ensure youth are at the center and at the forefront of decision making as school policies, district budgets and practices are created and implemented.
As adults and district staff coordinate to create the Local Control Accountability Plan, our youth leaders rise in their power, reminding everyone that their voice is needed and should be intentionally included all year round.
Featured above is RYSE member Jahiem “Geo” Jones (Click here to fast forward to his part), graduate of Kennedy High School class of 2021, former DLCAPS member and RYOT Intern at RYSE. As a DLCAPS Fellow Jahiem attended monthly DLCAPS committee meetings, participated in weekly programs at RYSE, attended and facilitated trainings, advocated at school board meetings, and co-led planning for Town Halls and local efforts with the DLCAPS Fellows youth cohort to ensure youth were included in conversations, supported in understating how to analyze budgets, and listened to when they shared their needs and demanded change, transparency, and accountability.
RYSE is committed to supporting youth as they step into their power and lead, create policy changes, and transform their schools, learning and education. In the words of Jahiem “everyone has the right to learn….Somewhere in our schools we are prepared to fail, which needs to be eliminated because everyone deserves a chance to succeed.”
We Decide, We Win: Building a Healthy Richmond’ highlights the powerful advocacy efforts and leadership of the Healthy Richmond Schools and Neighborhood Action Team (SNAT): students, parents and community organizations organizing together for education equity and to build power.
JOB OPENINGS
JUNETEENTH: A WORD
This month RYSE officially observed Juneteenth. The day is emblematic of the dynamic between the historically oppressed and those in power. Chattel slavery continued in Texas a full 3 years after it was outlawed, finally ending on the day we now honor as Juneteenth. Emblematic of this country’s relationship with its own story, its relationship with the word “end,” and its penchant for putting people over profits under the guise of something seemingly opposite, Juneteenth is an important part of the American narrative. Legally speaking, plenty of inhumane and immoral practices are outlawed in America but still continue without the law’s acknowledgement. Black people in America legally couldn’t be enslaved, yet slavery continued in parts of America for 3 years after the fact (and in actuality many years after that as well) in the same manner that Black people in America can’t legally be executed in the street and yet we still witness it with our own eyes routinely and without legal intervention. In June 2020 the RYSE board unanimously voted to make Juneteenth a holiday. Before it became a national holiday, RYSE pushed for its observance and for what it truly represents: freedom and liberation. America’s relationship with its rhetoric vs. its actions is a story the historically oppressed know well and it is a relationship RYSE is committed to recognizing, interrogating, and doing the work toward remedying.
-Temba Kamara (RYSE Communications Manager)