In Our Hands: Empowering NYC Youth
Photo by Sushil Nash on Unsplash
In Our Hands is a coalition of youth groups helping and empowering New York City youth to take part in become politics and social issues.
From organizing voter registration drives to teach-ins and education workshops, many of the initiatives allow youth to become directly involved in the political cycle.
Currently, the coalition is formed by TREEage, Teens Take Charge, IntegrateNYC, CUFFH, Youth Alliance for Housing, Crew Count, and 18byVote.
TREEage (@treeage_team)
This organization is dedicated to climate justice through political change. They work closely with the NYC Council of Sustainability and endorse candidates for local government positions that will best address climate issues.
Last month they announced their new endorsements for the NYC Council elections, which can be found here.
Teens Take Charge (@teenstakecharge)
New York City schools are the most segregated in the United States, and this organization is fighting to change that. TTC targets segregation and educational inequity. They push to implement policy in order to tackle many of the issues in the NYC education sector, such as pushing to get rid of unfair screenings and abolishing the SHSAT.
They also offer resources for easy access to political campaigns and more, such as information about the NYC Mayoral Race which can be found here.
IntegrateNYC (@integratenyc)
This organization also works to tackle the inequities present in NYC’s schools. On their website, they have a list of demands meant to help bring equality and desegregation to these schools. The demands include things such as getting rid of the military and police presence inside of schools.
They have worked with and overseen the implementation of the D15 Diversity Plan, aimed at meeting the needs of the district, more information can be found here.
CUFFH (@cuffh.youth)
Churches United for Fair Housing is a grassroots organization working to make communities safer and neighborhoods livable. Their affordable housing initiatives help advocate for accessible housing and tenant protections. They also directly work to offer resources for immigrants’ rights and racial equity, offering hands-on workshops and services for undocumented immigrants and DACA recipients.
They are currently helping communities affected by the pandemic through a COVID-19 Response Fund to which you can donate here.
Crew Count (@crewcountnyc)
Crew Count handles issues to do with public safety gun violence, lack of employment opportunities, and more. They focus on a new agenda for public safety in the New York City Mayoral race. Their approach offers a youth-led curriculum that asserts influence on policies and candidates meant to help police reform and community-led public safety solutions.
Youth Alliance for Housing (@youth4housing)
YAH also seeks to advocate for affordable housing plans and bring awareness to issues directly related to housing inequalities. The organization aims to provide a safe space for youth to have a voice in the housing movement.
18by.Vote (@18by.vote)
18by.Vote organizes non-partisan campaigns to help empower young voters and soon-to-be voters. Their campaigns focus on advocating for the importance of teen voting, as well as creating accessible teen voter registration drives all around the country.
All of these organizations help mobilize the efforts of youth in different issues and movements. In Our Hands recognizes that civic engagement goes way beyond voting, and works to give an accessible path into political and social advocacy.
To learn more about In Our Hands and their future events check their website here or their Instagram page @inourhands.nyc.
To learn more about each specific organization and its efforts click the links on each title.