As the fifth year of the Summer Youth Organizing Academy comes to an end, I am excited to see this year's new class of young organizers go back to school with the skills and knowledge they learned over the summer to be the agents of change in their communities. Three years ago, I was a new incoming SYOA student in a class of only 5 and it is amazing that this year's class fostered the development of 13 students of color from all over Los Angeles- students from the San Fernando Valley, Culver City, South Los Angeles, and East Los Angeles. As an SYOA alumni, it is an exhilarating feeling to see the growth of this powerful program that has so deeply influenced my life. Every year I have come back to volunteer and every year my practice and my understanding of theory has been strengthened. With the mentorship and support of my elders and peers, I am now working part time as a youth organizer, helping facilitate an after school Taking Action program as well as the Summer Youth Organizing Academy.

I remember when the students first met, their backgrounds and lived experiences were very present and shaped the ways that they interacted with one another, but as the weeks progressed, it was these differences that in fact deepened their commitment to see one another as comrades in this fight to end the school-to-prison pipeline and mass incarceration of Black and Latino communities. The model of the Summer Youth Organizing Academy consists of two parts: 1) the practice, which translates into the students organizing their communities on the buses, door knocking, and class room presentations and 2) the theory, which is the political education that informs and drives the practice. This year's theme was "Direct Action: A Tool Towards Revolution". The students learned the various ways that people all over the world have resisted oppression and maintained their communities resiliency through forms of direct action. The seminar topics ranged from "politically taboo" conversations around National Oppression, Patriarchy and the Womyn's Liberation Movement, to the LGBTQQ2IA movement- and how all these issues impact our everyday lives.

Every seminar challenged the students and forced them to immerse themselves in the process of dismantling the traditional way they think about the world, analyze these ideas, and come to their own conclusions about how they relate to the world and their role in it. As a community we supported one another in this difficult but necessary journey, and after every seminar we ended with a quote by Assata Shakur: "It is our duty to fight for freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love and protect each other. We have nothing to lose but out chains." This quote, I feel, represents the sentiment of the class- their profound dedication to each other and their communities. It has not even been a week since their graduation from the program and already the students have out reached to us to continue to organize on their school sites and neighborhoods! This is incredibly exciting because the Community Rights Campaign is moving quickly- we are in conversation with the Interim Chief of School Police, Mike Bowman, releasing our documents around restrictions and guidelines for the Los Angeles School Police Department, organizing a citywide public hearing around the impacts of the Los Angeles Municipal Code 45.04, working towards ending Roosevelt High School's collaboration with the Los Angeles Police Department in conducting "truancy/tardy sweeps", and eventually all LAUSD schools, and many other projects that requires the support of a movement of people.

Will you join us in this fight?