"There are better things to do than going out and destroying their own community," says one teen participant.
By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published May 26, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG - A small but insistent voice in Midtown belongs to the young.
On Saturday, two dozen members of the NAACP Youth Council joined with members of the Pinellas Youth Advisory Committee to sponsor an antiviolence rally at the Childs Park Sports Complex.
Council president Louisa Powell, 18, said the rally's purpose was to send a message to their peers that they can make a difference in their communities without resorting to violence.
"We wanted to let the young people know they don't have to sit back and wait for the adults to do something," Powell, 18, said. "Once you start speaking in a way that's respectful and lawful, you'll start getting the attention of adults. Then they'll start to help you."
Several powerful adults supported the youth council's efforts. In the audience of about 200 Saturday were Pinellas County Commissioner Calvin Harris and City Council member James Bennett.
Featured speakers included St. Petersburg NAACP president Darryl Rouson and City Council member Ernest Williams, who read a proclamation from Mayor Rick Baker declaring May 22, 2004, "Youth Speaks Out Against Violence Day."
Williams congratulated the young people for "stepping up to the plate" and compared their efforts to those of the young civil rights workers of the 1960s. Referring to the recent disturbances in Midtown that involved young people, he urged the rally participants to take a different path.
"This rally sends a different message that we have great people here who want to do things the right way," Williams said.
Justin Clarke, 17, a rising senior at Gibbs High who is youth council parliamentarian, said, "The NAACP Youth Council is here to change the community in a positive way. We want to show that the youth of today can be there for the youth of tomorrow."
During a lull in the three-hour program, Clarke sat under a tent to escape the heat and responded to a question about Uhuru leader Omali Yeshitela's recent assertion that Sateesh Rogers, 21, and an African People's Socialist Party member, is "representative of a new young face that the movement is acquiring."
"To me, that's all false," Clarke said. "The real voice of the community is the youth who are out here with the NAACP. All (Sateesh) is doing is telling kids to rebel against authority, the people who are trying to give them an education."
Clarke said that he and the other members of the youth council, who are both black and white, want to send a different message.
"I'd like kids to know there are better things to do than disrespect their elders," he said. "There are better things to do than going out and destroying their own community. What they need to do is go out and get an education and become something in life."
This year, the youth council grew from a handful to 15 executive board members and 25 active members under Powell's leadership. The members meet monthly at St. Petersburg NAACP headquarters on 16th Avenue S and are guided by adult NAACP members.
"At NAACP youth meetings, we try not to use words that incite disruption or are attacking," NAACP president Rouson said. "Rather, we want to show collaboration, support and cooperation. So many times our youth are drawn into other organizations where a large part of the rhetoric is attacking. We ask that our youth be analytical thinkers who take positive action."
Besides organizing the antiviolence rally, a project that began in October, the youth council was involved in voter registration drives.
Members also participated in the Academic, Cultural, Technological Scientific Olympics, a local, state and national competition sponsored each year by the NAACP.
When Powell leaves St. Petersburg to begin classes at the University of Florida in two weeks, the recent St. Petersburg High graduate will turn over council leadership to the group's two vice presidents: Hayley Jade Fink and Safiya Miller. Rising St. Petersburg High seniors Miller and Kennetra Irby will run for president in August when Fink, a recent graduate from the International Baccalaureate Program at St. Petersburg High, leaves for Harvard University.
Encouraged by the rally's turnout, Powell said the youth council is heading in the right direction by attracting more and more young people. As she spoke, her 12-year-old brother, Justin Greene, who has been a youth council member for two years, listened.
"We have a lot of people in our group and they tell their friends," he said. "There were only about 12 members when I joined, and now there are more than 20. The more kids join, the less kids will be getting in trouble."
AT A GLANCE
The youth council is open to everyone between the ages of 9 and 22, regardless of race. Meetings are held at 11 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month at St. Petersburg NAACP headquarters, 1501 16th St. S. Yearly dues are $10.
