California 100 hosts their Youth Futures Summit at the Capitol West Lawn, celebrating the next generation of scholars on March 12, 2023.
California 100
Hundreds of people drenched from Sunday afternoon rain still managed to celebrate the next generation of scholars, leaders and change makers during California 100’s inaugural Youth Futures Summit.
Held at the Capitol West Lawn, the summit featured live music, art installations, murals and included interactive programming from information booths from organizations such as the UC Student Association, GENup, Young Invincibles, CalPIRG Students, HOPE, Music Changing Lives and others.
The aim of California 100 is to provide a positive vision for the future of the state by focusing on inspiring an innovative, sustainable strategy that’s equitable across the diverse state for the next century.
The initiative began at UC Berkeley and Stanford University, guided by California 100 Executive Director Karthick Ramakrishan and the Intergenerational Commission.
The organization released their Youths Future Manifesto, a vision of building solutions and identifying strategies in California to include at least one young person on every state board and commission.
In addition, it seeks to ensure young people from communities big and small are actively encouraged and supported to vote, plus have influence in policy decisions at all levels of government.
Ramakrishan feels that young people are often ignored or dismissed. He wants them to be empowered to be involved in local, state and national politics.
“They have ideas and they’re usually seen as naive,” Ramakrishan said. “Often new ideas come from young people so when you look at our young people we’re calling them the manifesto for the future of California.”
Ramakrishan pointed to the recent election of Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Florida, a 25-year-old progressive activist, as an example of how Gen Z is taking an active role re-imagining a positive future during a time of political polarization.
He wants young Californians to strive for the same feat, saying that the years between age 16 and 25 are critical to shaping the future on issues from climate change to racial justice.
“If you look at demographics, the share of young people in California is declining. What that means is that young people might have less and less of a voice in shaping the future,” said Ramakrishan.
California 100 hosted an event that featured live music. Pictured from left to right. Front: Blake Milton, Antonio “Mission” Smith, and Dustin Loy. Back: Osmond Jackson, Elijah Jaron, and Isaiah Morris. Marcus D. Smith
Helping to shape the future
Organizations in attendance held discussions with younger people about the future and how to envision the California they want to shape together.
Jade Fabello moved the crowd through his immersive presentation inviting the crowd to learn about “AfroRithms From the Future,” his collaborative, storytelling game designed to make players think critically about a world they imagine.
Fabello, 25, wants people to step outside of the world they’re accustomed to and create a new normal.
AfroRithms is a collective of afrofuture creatives who study the art of imagining Black people in speculative scenarios in the future. The organization looks to define a new world through tensions and exploring the unknown.
“What we like to do is say we have a reverence for the past and awareness for the present and creativity for the future,” Fabello said. “Because dismantling white supremacy is fun…it’s fun to create a world that doesn’t have them.”
Xion Abiodun joined Oakland-based organization YR Media, formerly Youth Radio, when she was a freshman in high school.
YR Media has been helping young people find their voice in life by teaching them critical skills in journalism and media, helping them to tell their story.
Since 1993, the nonprofit media organization has provided support to the youth by giving them a microphone and encouraging them to discuss issues that matter to them.
“We have National Youth correspondents, training and supporting young folks learning journalism and multiple modes of creation. We have music production (and) a podcasting department,” Monica Clark, director of their Teach YR division said.
“We are the public-facing division of YR Media, bringing in the youth journalism as primary text, as we’re calling ‘the new canon,’ that can be brought into learning materials, resources and curriculum that we can share both directly to students, DIY makers and getting into classrooms connecting with educators in different formal and informal spaces.”
Abiodun, now 19-years-old, applies the skills and knowledge she’s developed through her participation with YR Media.
It’s helped her land jobs and create a focus for what she wants to do with her career in business administration.
“I really liked going there. It lifted my spirit up, it was real positive energy,” Abiodun said. “I’m using my voice promoting opportunities that (young people) do have right now.”
This story was originally published March 13, 2023 at 2:29 PM.
