2010 Fellow May Mgbolu was selected for the 2011 Student Freedom Ride. From May 6-17th she will be travelling with the original Freedom Riders from DC to New Orleans engaging in discussions around social justice and direct action organizing. Congratulations May! 

We are excited to debut our 2011 National Summit Video “Creating Change That Lasts” that provides an overview of our work as well as what Fellows experience in the YP4 Fellowship. We encourage you to share it with friends, partners, and anyone who might be interested learning more about YP4.

Last year I wrote a blog about Tee Shirt wearers, in which I wrote about people who are in the movement for there own selfish ambitions.  Now I sit here and I see that we are a group of individuals working on our own projects and assignments rather than a team working on a singular purpose.

As the country holds its breath — and stands in line at the polls — we're proud of the hard work our fellows have done to register voters and get out the vote.

Just a few examples:

This is the first in a series of posts that myself and other YP4 staff will write from the Leadership Academy retreat in West Cornwall, CT.

The 2008-2009 class met yesterday at Grand Central Station and we kicked off this four day training retreat last night. This class is nothing short of spectacular. We have people from all areas of the country with vastly different theories of change, all with roughly the same vision for the world. Among the group we have elected officials and candidates, ED's of organizations, community organizers, policy specialists, leadership development trainers, students, teachers and activists.

I started out in the progressive movement through the amazing fellowship of Young People For.   As part of the introductory class (2005) the camaraderie between the fellows as well as staff was high and genuine; never before had I experienced such a feeling of support and understanding around issues that were important to me.  Often times I ponder the opportunities given, the people I have had the pleasure of meeting, and the relationships developed because of my involvement with YP4.  During this time the thought which emerged was “where would my activism be?”   

[asset|aid=825|format=image|formatter=asset|title=featuredfellow_mayatorralba.jpg|width=200|height=215|align=right|resizable=true]Maya Torralba is our featured fellow for the month of July.

Maya is the proud mother of Chado and twins Matthias and Kateri. She is also the founder of the Community Esteem Project in Anadarko, Oklahoma and a 2008 Young People For fellow at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.

In this interview, she talks about the importance of community esteem, the power of traditions and how other YP4 fellows have inspired her.

Monique Gillum, student body president at Florida A&M University (and a 2005 YP4 fellow), was featured at 7:52 this morning on CNN's news mini-series Black in America.

You can see it yourself on their campus tour: www.cnn.com/blackinamerica

Go Monique!

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UPDATE (11:45am): The video doesn't seem to be live yet. When it is, you can find it most quickly here: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/black.in.america/hbcu/.

[asset|aid=727|format=image|formatter=asset|title=business-card.jpg|width=175|height=156|align=right|resizable=true]
"Yeah, the fellowship sounds great! Here's my e-mail address... hold on a sec," he said, rummaging through his pockets. "Uh, I've got the back of this receipt. Do you have a pen?"

Hey Everyone,

Young People For was recently featured in Wiretap Magazine.

Check out the article here: http://www.wiretapmag.org/activism/43379

In Solidarity

Jason