Black youth mobolize to form political agenda

WASHINGTON (NNPA) --The silent giant awoke on Election Day. America's Black youth dispelled their once apathetic political posture by translating pre-election passion into a powerful turnout on Nov. 4. The election is over, but this new political demographic has declared that the work is not done. ''Within the next 100 days we will really be mobilizing even harder,'' said Keri Fulton at the eighth annual Black Youth Vote Civic Leadership Training Conference, held in the nation's capital last week. ''Election Day was just the beginning. I will continue to work for the next four, hopefully eight years, to make sure Obama is the best president we've ever seen in this country.''

As president-elect Obama transitions to power, Black youth are taking their civic engagement to the next level -- building an agenda. The youth from around the nation met at a three-day meeting in Washington to hammer out details of an agenda on the state and national level, as well as strategic ways to push the agenda.

Melanie Campbell, president and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, said that Black youth already understood there was a need for change, but ''now it's time to connect the dots in the political process.

The priorities on the agenda include affordability of higher education, health care, the job market and the environment.

Carmen Berkley, president of the U.S. Student Association, has a $90,000 student load. She college is ''too expensive.''

''In Canada they go to school for free, and in Europe they basically go to school for free,'' she said.

Jacqueline C. Ayers, a legislative representative for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said health care is disproportionately affecting African-American youth. Despite the $2 trillion a year spent on health care, 44 million people are still uninsured, said Ayers.

''When we look at the reality of the lives of our young African American youth, we don't need a lot of statistics to tell us that the HIV-AIDS epidemic, teenage pregnancy rates and sexually transmitted infections, impact disproportionately communities of color," she said.

''We can make a big difference in public policy,'' Fulton said.

The youth noted that according to election day exit polls, 68 percent of voters, ages 18 to 24, voted for Obama. "This is a number Berkley said Obama should never forget.

"Obama and the Congress owe it to the youth," Berkley said. ''We have to make sure we are taken care of.''

Looking outside of the legislative lens, David Johns, an education policy advisor for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said there are other ways to push for change. Another outlet, he said, is the media.

''It might sound funny coming from a representative from the Hill, but I want us to look beyond legislation,'' Johns said. "Hold the media accountable. I think it's important for us to push the media away from being sensational and being more about education.''

While Obama holds the highest position in the land, the entire weight of change doesn't rest on his shoulders, the youth insisted. Change starts in local communities, according to D.C. Advisory Council representative Rebecca Thompson.

''It's what we do in our spare time, it's what we do on our weekend that's really going to matter and help him move forward in his agenda,'' Thompson said.

Before Obama's inauguration in January, coordinators of Black Youth Vote! are working to disburse an official agenda to state and local governments, the 111th Congress and the transition team. But Black youth civic engagement won't end on Jan. 20.

''We need to continue to be about our business, advancing every agenda that each of us cares about," Johns said. "The work is not over. It wasn't over Nov 4. It won't be over Jan 20. It might not be over 2010. But we need to make sure we continue to do the work.