The pain, fear and trauma that youth go through daily as a result of their close proximity to indiscriminate violence is seldom given space for acknowledgement and healing and is in fact–often repressed or silenced via institutional racism and oppression. The constant reminder that black life is not valued outside of so-called safe spaces such as schools is compounded when they realize their lives are not valued inside of these institutions either. Social and emotional needs of youth are simply given zero priority and zero tolerance at multiple junctures in their lives. Lost Friends peers in to the world of young students that have lost loved ones to violence and live within these marginalized communities. The brilliance and power of these stories is that it is completely their own. They are the ones narrativizing their emotions and experiences. In a world where their voices are always stifled and seldom heard, youth are pushing back and demanding that you listen and that their experiences are humanized within popular media. This is journalism that is truly transformative, empowering and healing for the students themselves and for their peers who are watching.
Lost Friends
Violence through the eyes of Chicago’s youth
We asked the students around the table a question: Did they know anyone who had died in street violence? Every hand rose. A father. A prom date. A friend home from college. Classmates, mentors. People they loved, people who had watched out for them. Over the next several months, the students from Mash and True Star, two after-school journalism workshops, talked about their loss and what they are still learning from it. Here are their stories. Through their sadness, resentment and anger, all of them spoke of hope.
http://vimeo.com/92896325
The rest of Lost Friends is here.
