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April 7, 2009
By Britt Higgins
Five hundred students from around Northern California traveled to San Francisco State University for the 2009 American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Youth Right’s Conference. BSU advisor and U.S. History teacher Eric Shawn and 16 students participated in this year’s conference.
Senior Ilham Awad is a member of the conference organizer, the Friedman Education Project’s Youth Activist’s Committee (YAC), people aged 14 to 19 who are interested in activism. Awad encouraged WHS students to attend.
The theme of this year’s conference was, “Is education a right or a privilege?”
“I feel that it was an excellent opportunity for WHS students to get exposed to a variety of civil rights issues and to meet youth from other schools,” Shawn said.
A morning session introduced conference attendees to the ACLU mission and the purpose of the 2009 conference. Guest speaker Derrick Smith spoke to the audience about youth empowerment. He advised the students to stop complaining about the infringement of youth rights and to get active in their communities.
“Quit trying to say it. Quit trying to yell it and start trying to be it,” Smith said.
The conference also featured many performers throughout the day. R&B singer and beat boxer Butterscotch sang several songs while accompanying herself on the guitar. Oakland non-profit Bay-Peace, which works to fight against aggressive military recruitment in schools, performed a skit in protest of the sixth anniversary of the War in Iraq.
Juniors Deja Bishop and Cheryl Thompson attended the morning workshop “X’s and Y’s Dictating Our Lives.” The workshop was run by YAC members, including Awad, and focused on the role of sexism in schools.
“It’s important for students to be aware about how to stand up for themselves in the face of sexism and discrimination,” Awad said.
A second session in the day featured other social justice issues.
Shawn offered this field trip to all members of BSU and to interested students. He attended a workshop on student’s choices after graduation. Options such as AmeriCorps and other community organizations were featured as alternatives to joining the military or going straight to college.
Shawn thinks that students had a really great time and enjoyed themselves, but hopes to bring more students next year.
“I think that we have students that are in tune with social justice issues and we need to give them a chance to become activists and to feel empowered to fight for civil rights,” Shawn said.
