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The philosophy of the Center Arts for Activism is that young people should have an appreciation for the artistic and cultural
traditions of their forebears. When a young person is able to appreciate their ancestors’ histories, specifically the ways in
which their ancestors resisted colonization and oppression, often through artistic mediums, they will gain a greater appreciation
of their origins, their heritage and the arts.
The Center for Arts for Activism is therefore an integral part of YMPJ’s youth membership module fulfilling four major purposes.
First, it is the entry point through which all of our members become acquainted with the concepts of oppression, justice, peace
and violence, and worldwide struggles for freedom. It is an important tool with which to get young people interested in our
mission as well as to maintain their membership.
Second, it helps transition young people who are mainly interested in the arts and artistic expression for personal gain and
entertainment into artists with a message, artists with a strong personal and political identity. Third, Arts for Activism
supports young people as they develop a language that helps them to interpret and understand the world around them, and inside
of them. Finally, our arts projects help to deconstruct media images and language.
For the current year, the Center will expose all our community youth organizers to a core curriculum of the basic forms of art:
aural, visual, dramatic, written, and body movement. Each area of focus will have two parts. The first is to learn the history
of that particular art form, through examining a historic example of how the art form has been used by a particular artist or
movement as a tool of liberation for a community of color. Afterwards, the young people will have the opportunity to meet with an
artist of that field, who will demonstrate/present their art, as well as work with the young people in developing their own artistic
abilities. They can apply these creations of artistic works toward YMPJ’s overall goal of organizing for social change.
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