From the DataCenter's Youth Strategy Project, Spring/Summer 2002:

California Ethnic Studies Campaign

Youth Organizing Communities (YOC), a youth-led organizing group based in Los Angeles, believes that the lack of ethnic studies in California classrooms contributes to the disempowerment of young people. Young people of color, in particular, don't know their history, lose motivation to be in school, and consistently feel alienated.

YOC's response: build a statewide network of grassroots youth organizing groups that would fight for the right to know their histories and the right to a fair and just education.

The DataCenter assisted YOC in creating a statistical picture of ethnic studies in today's California classrooms, giving information on where ethnic studies is being taught, how many teachers are teaching it, and student enrollment in those schools. DataCenter also provided training to YOC's network on how to navigate through education statistics themselves, thus helping to build the youth organizers' capacity to do research on the local level.

YOC launched their statewide campaign at their Schools Not Jails conference in July 2002 in Los Angeles, which brought over 300 youth and young people committed to educational justice.

For further information contact Youth Organizing Communities.