The US and Canada are something else, let me tell you. We get so wound up in ourselves, and our 'struggles,' that we tend to forget that there are so many others out there.

When I think about the "youth rights" movement in the US, I almost blush. While these folks are pressing for minor, hypothetical solutions to increase "liberties" for young people, there is so much more going on. In the US alone, juvenile injustice, racism in education, and the destruction of community as we know it.

Around the world there are so many more challenges that are so much more pressing than what some of us are fighting for. Child labor is a VERY REAL problem in many places; young people in Chernobyl are still dying; children are living homeless around the world; and in the USA, many middle-class white kids are fighting for themselves, and no one else.

This must stop. I know why, but I don't know how. There are examples, and I'm trying to share them with others. But I'm not sure what to do. Any ideas out there?

This worldwide movement for empowered youth involvement must permeate every corner of our society. We've gotta reach deep into schools, governments, businesses, communities, classrooms, boardrooms, NGOs, all sectors, all angles- especially families- and reinvent the purpose, the mission, and the meanings of what we're doing and why we're doing it...

The beat goes on, and the drummer plays hard, but there's so much work to do. Work, work... work isn't bad. Jobs might be, but work isn't. Work is the stuff of the hands, of the heart, of the soul... Jobs, well, they're just for the body, for the brain.

I'm just finishing up a day of work, and I feel like I've got something else done, and done well. Feel free to check it out.

Youth Leadership & Service Team - Steadily establishing the depth and purpose of meaningful student involvement throughout education. Awesome stuff some days.

The Freechild Project - All over the place, eh? They say that's how you inflitrate the masses... Youth involvement, participation, action, activism, rights, response-ability, and so much more...

Oh, and one more, coming soon to a school near you...
The Campaign for Meaningful Student Involvement

And the beat goes on. Hmm. Must've been a good day. A book that is a must-read for anyone serious about building communities- Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Communities? by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. So many people today use Dr. King so pattly, so easily, without ever considering the honest implications of his lessons... This book provides a powerful social analysis that is still a foundational work for me today. Thank you Dr. King, and to those honestly carrying on his legacy.

Really sorry.

ha.