Last Friday, December 13, RYSE hosted Not So Silent Night, a holiday event for young people.
As young people gathered for a multicultural dinner featuring the foods of cultures both at RYSE and beyond, we were reminded of the power of our differences and of solidarity—and of the healing potential in sharing a meal and conversation together.
Young people enjoyed games such as musical chairs and freeze dance, indulged at the hot chocolate bar, sang karaoke, performed in a powerful open mic, and treated themselves to holiday portraits with their friends taken by a professional photographer. Youth also decorated a RYSE Commons gingerbread house, re-imagining and building up new structures on the future campus with frosting.
With the holiday season comes the notion of family, giving, and abundance. Not So Silent Night grounded us in one of RYSE’s roots: the importance of having a loving safe space in Richmond, where all youth leaders can grow their power while also having fun as young people—not so silently, absolutely never silenced, and being exactly who they are.
This holiday season we ask that you support RYSE, a safe and loving space where youth leaders lead, grow, dream, and love.
Please consider donating to us as part of your year-end giving: send Richmond youth a holiday gift from our registry of essentials we’ll need for RYSE Commons or make a general donation. As always, we’re grateful for your support and glad to be in this work with you.
December at RYSE
Earlier this month, RYSE youth artists video conferenced with ReFrame, a youth-led organization based in Phoenix, Arizona, to discuss creative youth development, and what adults need to know when developing creative programs for young people.
RYSE artists also installed “OASIS: In a Desert of Hope” at the 9th Annual Youth Arts Summit in San Francisco, which explores the concept of the oasis as a sanctuary that provides nourishment, nutrients, and sustainability in the harsh, often hopeless desert of our current socio-political ecosystem.
A group of RYSE youth poets traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan to perform with youth poets at Neutral Zone. The production, entitled “Staying Power,” was a collaborative project that extended the work of RYSE’s “Youthtopia” production back in May 2019, and furthered the conversation of gentrification by interrogating its presence in both Richmond, CA and Ypsilanti, MI.
We’re also excited to share that more than 40 youth applied to be in our new RYSing Professionals cohort, where interns receive monthly stipends while participating in their career development. Interns will explore career pathways, receive professional development and leadership training, and job shadow at local businesses and organizations. We will be announcing the youth new interns soon!