Project Summary

Many differences exist between youth and elder activists. We often discount each other. Youth say elders are dated, and elders say youth have to learn before they act. To bridge these gaps, I want to bring together youth and elders to form Intergenerational Community Justice Councils.

About me

I am a white antiracist 56 year old educator activist at the U. of Minnesota. I co-founded an undergraduate social justice, rooted in activism and movement building. Students in the 3 required classes do community based learning in social justice organizations for 30 hours each semester. Many students develop long term relationships with their organizations beyond school commitments. I've selected particular communty orgs because of my own long term relationships with them, through my own activist background. I've also located small pots of university money to give honoraria to each organization to honor their commitment to working with our students. I've always been clear about never using local communities to educate university students. I've chaired the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission. and worked in the nonprofit world with Arabs and Jews, local communities of color, GLBT people, immigrants, feminists and white antiracist communities. My work has always been about movement building, going beyond single issue organizing and across various constitutencies. The social justice minor undergrads are incredibly brilliant and passionate about changing the world, as are the many community leaders in the orgs where our students work. I want to help bridge the generations gap that exists between students and older community organizers. I want to situate this project outside of the academy because that is where long term social change really happens.