Each year SHARE--Society for History and Racial Equity--has a Summit on Racism. A couple of years ago SHARE's marketing and outreach coordinator Jacob Pinney-Johnson looked around and realized he was the youngest person in the room.
"I mentioned to some folks that this was an issue," says Pinney-Johnson. At the same time, the nation was about to learn of the death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old, fatally shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in the gated community that Martin was visiting.
That was followed by heightened media coverage of young people, the violent treatment they were receiving from police, and the racism being seen in those actions. The summit was convened to provide a structured environment to discuss race and racism in a way that young people don't often have an opportunity to do.
"I was hearing from young people that they weren't being allowed spaces within school settings to talk about some of these issues--race and racism, youth violence," says Pinney-Johnson says. "So the original idea was to organize a time and place where young people in Kalamazoo could have space where they could talk freely and openly about race and racism."
The 2015 Summit proved to be the kind of event that young people wanted to attend again and race as an issue in America continues to make headlines, so a 2016 event was scheduled.
One difference between the two summits is that 2016 Kalamazoo Youth Summit on Racism was largely organized by young people. A group of about 10 high school students from various groups across the community came together to plan the event.
They set the goals for the summit--to deepen knowledge about racism, celebrate other cultures, and appreciate rather than appropriate. Khalil Adams attended the 2015 Summit, helped plan the 2016 event and was one of three young people who directed students throughout the day as they moved through the agenda. He is a 17-year-old who will be a senior at Kalamazoo Central in the fall.
Adams says it seems the young people participating in the day were made more at ease by people their age leading the events of the day. "The atmosphere was more comfortable," Adams says. "It didn't feel like adults were controlling the environment, so I felt like it was really good. The young people seemed to ask lots of questions, they were into it, they were engaged. That was another good aspect of having youth being in charge, to a certain extent."
"Having the young folk involved, coming to the table, and organizing sessions was huge," says Pinney-Johnson. "It's one thing to have an event geared toward youth, but to have the young folks involved in planning that just made it feel a lot more authentic."
A second new feature of this year’s summit was the use of games to get points across. Young people moved about the space rather than sitting in chairs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. About 50 young people, a balanced number of those of color and whites, turned out to the Adrian Trimpe Hall, Multicultural Center on the Western Michigan University campus. Having given up their Saturday to learn more about race and racism they stayed engaged through the creative programming.
"I know that when people come to summits they expect it to be like another day in school--they expect to be preached to, that this something they have to sit through," Adams says. "When they actually get up and move to participate there's a good flow to it. I think it created a really comfortable atmosphere. It allowed them to feel like they didn't have to be tensed up all day."
In the
Game of Life, the young people were assigned an identity and were treated accordingly in situations like job interviews.
"White males go to the head of the line, a Hispanic woman has to go off into the corner, and the Middle Eastern man is considered scary," Pinney-Johnson says. "It was a good way to give people a taste of what it was like to be discriminated against or realize what privilege could get you."
Pinney-Johnson and Adams agree, however, that the concept of white privilege did not appear to be a new one to any of those attending the forum. The white young people were there to learn more about what they could do to be allies to African Americans and other people of color around them.
To get at the heart of the question of racism the middle school and high school students attended the breakout sessions of their choice. Topics included policing; race and media; racial slurs; racism, bias and prejudice; and racism in the schools.
One particularly interesting session was the one on policing. Pinney-Johnson says the young people posed some tough questions to the police officers and at least one question they could not answer. Organizers were grateful the local police agreed to participate and the sessions proved to be a great opportunity for youth to ask questions of officers, Pinney-Johnson says.
A highlight for the two was the multi-cultural feast from which they got to partake in Indian cuisine, Middle Eastern cuisine, tacos, and pizza. "Food is a good point of connection. There was a lot of good food," Pinney-Johnson says.
"It seemed like people liked the choices," Adams says.
At the end of the day together, the young people recapped what they got out of the sessions. Pinney-Johnson says he was astonished at the level of critical thinking they displayed. He was particularly impressed with a girl, probably a middle schooler, who wanted to talk about her social studies teacher, a Trump supporter. "That she could define that he could not separate his personal political beliefs from the classroom was really interesting."
And Pinney-Johnson acknowledges that is a level of critical thinking that he did not share at that age.
Reviews of the summit were positive. Beyond that, Pinney-Johnson says it seemed that many of the youth caught a spark that would lead them to dig deeper into the causes and cures for race and racism issues.
"When you think about the history of American race and racism, and social movements in general, you realize that young people and youth have for the most part been at the center of these movements," Pinney-Johnson says. "As adults, it's really crucial for us to encourage young people and youth to explore the topic of race and racism and for them to be in places where conversations and action are happening around them. I think it's our duty as adults to help encourage the young folks to do that."
Adams says the day was not about finding concrete solutions to society's problems. "There didn't have to be solutions," Adams says. The young people learning about race and racism for the first time start slow, he says. "First, they take baby steps. They are introduced to the topic. Then they start learning more about it. Then they have something to think about. I believe that after the summit they went home with something to think about and they were coming up with solutions that they could use for better treatment of all cultures in America and specifically here in our community. The summit gave them a chance to go home and think about certain issues."
He knows because that is what happened to him. He went home with a lot of ideas to think about. Adams took away more than ideas though. He also gained a lot of practical knowledge through the 2016 summit.
"Being a part of the summit itself, planning it, playing a big role in it, was huge for me because as a student at Kalamazoo Central High School I'm only a junior. Next year I'll be a senior." Adams says. "Working on the summit, that's a lot of experience to have under my belt at an early age and I am really grateful for all the work I was able to do. I gained a lot of connections with other students in the community and I was able to talk more about race and racism with my peers, more than I would be able to at school or at another location."
The evaluations showed the youth went home with a lot of information they had not picked up in school or at home. "The fact that they were able to come and learn how racism affects our country was really good," Adams says. "I'm glad we were able to have such a positive outcome."
Without an event such as the summit young people "never really have time to have a serious conversation about race," Adams says. "There might be three seconds before the bell rings between classes. Or something you glance at on social media. Here they have more time to sit down and really go in-depth within the roots of racism and what people have gone through that they might not share with peers or teachers. This is a new environment where they can vent and receive information."
The summit will be presented again in 2017. Those who want to help plan it should contact Pinney-Johnson via
email.
Kathy Jennings is the managing editor of Southwest Michigan's Second Wave. She is a freelance editor and writer.