Youth Activism

When someone says “youth activist”, they think of an outspoken young person who cares about their community, fights for social justice, wants to make a change, and thinks about their future. There are lots of young people who are making a difference right now, just by opening their mouths and speaking up on issues that they feel are very important. Each and every young person can make a difference. Historically youth and students have led social justice movements. We tend to be most affected by oppression so we are fighting it the most. No one is ever alone in the fight for peace and justice. As a whole, young people have been telling the world " what we want and when we want it". We must learn to become one voice and be heard as a whole, so our future can be better for the youth that will come after.

Learn More About Youth Activism

The Movement for Youth Rights: 1945-2000
http://www.youthcomm.org/Documents/Youth%20Rights.htm

Youth Declaration for a new civil rights movement
http://www.bamn.com/doc/youth-declaration.asp

The History of the Youth Rights Movement
http://www.freechild.org/SNAYR/historyYR.htm

Youth-Led Social Activism
http://www.freechild.org/youth_activism_2.htm

Youth Activism From Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_activism

Follow the links at “Youth Movement from Wikipedia”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_movement

A Snapshot of the Global Youth Movement (This site doesn’t look very interesting, but it has tons of information on youth groups all over the world, divided up by type of group and field of interest.)
http://www.youthmovements.org/guide/globalguide.htm

Here's a list of different youth organizations in New York City that are making a difference:

Ya-Ya's at the Recruiting Station

FIERCE! (Queer Youth of Color)
http://www.fiercenyc.org

Global Kids (Global Issues and Awareness)
http://www.globalkids.org/

El Puente (Human Rights and Social Justice)
http://www.elpuente.us/homepage.htm

Global Action Project (Media Activism)
http://www.global-action.org/main.html

DRUM: Desis Rising Up and Moving (Immigration Issues)
http://drumnation.org/about.html

Sistas on the Rise (Young Women/Young Mothers of Color)
http://www.sistasontherise.org/

Make the Road by Walking / Youth Power
http://www.maketheroad.org/howwework.php#YouthDevelopment

For Information About Organizations Around the Country Check Out:

Youth Force Coalition (Oakland California)
http://www.youthec.org/youthforce/

Funders Collaborative on Youth Organizing Grantee List
http://www.fcyo.org/sitebody/Grantees/grantees.htm

CampusActivism.org: Tools for Student Activists
http://www.campusactivism.org

Global Youth Action Network
http://www.youthlink.org

Freechild Project: Connecting Young People & Social Change
http://www.freechild.org/youthvoicemovement.htm

For a HUGE list of youth activist organizations around the world, check out:
http://www.youthlink.org/gyanv5/memberlist.htm

Getting Funding for your Youth Activism Project:

"That Was Easy" Competition. Prizes include $1,000 grant for your venture, special celebration, and consulting opportunity at Staples Headquarters, and $5,000 Staples shopping spree! Deadline for entries is February 7, 2007.
http://proxied.changemakers.net/journal/thatwaseasy/

Funders Collaborative on Youth Organizing
http://www.fcyo.org/

For a list of grants for youth activists:
Funding for Social Change By and With Young People
http://www.freechild.org/funds4progress.htm