Youth panelists that participated in D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie’s #YouthSpeakDC event. (Courtesy Photo)
An intergenerational crowd of youths and adults came together on Oct. 17 to hear what teens and millennials had to say about issues such as education, drugs, and the lack of resources to stay out of trouble. The summit, given by Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie (D-Ward 5), was a two-hour session at the R.I.S.E. Demonstration Center in Southeast Washington, D.C.
The National Week of Non Violence, from Oct. 17 – 25, was announced by the Black Women for Positive Change (see “Spiking D.C. Violence Spurs Calls for Culture Change” on afro.com). As of Oct. 21, the D.C.’s homicide count reached 124, a 44.2 percent gain from 2014.
The youth summit was moderated by WPGC radio personality Sunni and the City. A panel of 11 youths spoke on topics such as K2, hip-hop, better education, getting in trouble, being bored, and the lack of resources at recreation centers.
“They want to see something other than their neighborhood,” a female panelist said. “Everybody don’t wanna see the same stuff every day.”
The highlight of the summit was a dance given by local hip-hop artists HDMickey and HDFLII. They were also on the panel. “As with the music, we’re very active in our community, I’m still in high school…,” said HDMickey.
The 17-year-old attends Maya Angelou Charter School in Northeast D.C. “I’m basically showing people what I feel, where I’m coming from, and we need to talk to people. And the dance that we do comes from the neighborhood.”
“I think it went well, anything that’s positive is good, it was a different crowd but people still responded, so it was a good turnout,” said HDFLII, 21. He added the dance actually came from a friend of his who was murdered in 2012. “His name is Steven Wilson, he passed away, and we do the dance to keep his spirit alive. We like to call it the Steve Dance.”
