Liberation Program
To prepare youth for community leadership for both today and the future, we developed the Liberation Program (LP). This program is for members of Bro/Sis who have a demonstrated an interest in activism. Members are selected through an intensive application and interview process designed to ensure serious commitment to community development. The program consists of two main components: The Liberation School and The Liberation Collective.
The Liberation School
The Liberation School is a 4-week training that takes place each summer for youth 14-17. Throughout the training, members develop skills to identify problems within their community, analyze solutions and act to create positive social change. Members define what it means to be a leader and explore the legacy of youth activism in this country and throughout the world.
Members broaden their understanding of the interconnections between self, community, power, oppression, and liberation. They learn what it takes to be an activist and develop their skills and interest among nurturing staff.
The Liberation Collective
Members who satisfactorily complete the Liberation School training receive an honorarium and become part of The Liberation Collective, the leadership and organizing body of the Liberation Program. The Collective is self-governing; members are the decision makers. Together, members and staff identify issues affecting their communities, establish goals for creating change and develop action plans. Throughout the school year, the Collective develops and organizes campaigns around these issues and maintains projects already underway. With guidance from staff, Collective members are responsible for recruiting and training future participants.
In summer 2008, LP Collective members ended a six-year campaign to seek the restoration of an abandoned school building into a multi-use facility. Listen to the Podcast – audio from interviews with former students and teachers, reflections from allies, segments for news broadcasts, original music, and spoken word – that captures the history of the campaign and highlights campaign wins.
Key Wins Include:
- Securing almost 5,000 signatures of community support for redevelopment of PS 186 into a multi-use community facility named the People’s Community Center
- Partnering with Broadway Housing, West Harlem Group Assistance and students of the Milano School and Parsons School of Design to develop architectural designs and a feasibility study for the development of the People’s Community Center. The project won third place in the national JP Morgan Community Development Competition in April 2005.
- Creating a multi-media community museum exhibit entitled PS 186…A Dream Deferred depicting the past, present and future of PS 186, exhibited at Bro/Sis, Riverside Church and the University of North Carolina.
- Receiving support from former Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, City Council member Robert Jackson, Community Board 9, and representatives from the Mayor’s Office
- Receiving an array of media coverage including interviews on NY1, WHCR, WBAI, WNYC, Harlem Live, El Diario, and the New York Sun.
After a six-year struggle, the youth saw the work through to the end. To date, ML Wilson Boys and Girls Club has proposed a plan in which 80% of the constructed space would address community needs including affordable condos (with varies income ranges for ownership), additional space for a neighboring post office, space rental for non-profits, and a state-of-the-arts space for the Boys & Girls Club.
Podcast Crew: Zora Howard, Matthew Garcia, LaShae Adams, Sunney Qazi, Orisanmi Burton; Narrator: DaMond Taylor; Audio Collage: Various voices of campaign allies and members and Staff of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol; NY1 Excerpt: Cidra M. Sebastien; Interviews: Que Alequin, Marilyn Rincon, Jason Warwin, Diane Wilson, David McNair, Brenda Diaz; Poet: James McMichaels; Campaign Victories: Dominique Mitchell; Bassist: Bryce Sebastien.
For details on the progress of these campaigns, email LP at aya@brotherhood-sistersol.org.
I believe so deeply in the life-saving work that The Brotherhood/Sister Sol is dedicated to: values and skills building that empower young people and keep them on course; helping young people to see and develop the extraordinary within themselves; ensuring their safe passage to adulthood. It is surely one of the most incredible organizations in the nation. Their work is catalytic! Their leadership, their services and outcomes are without peer. Simply put, The Brotherhood/Sister Sol does the work that few others will or even know how to do…. They have answered the call to repair the village, to secure the children. It’s our responsibility to ensure they have all they need to do God’s work.
[The Brotherhood/Sister Sol] is using their passion to uplift and inspire a next generation through extraordinary work that creates leaders and a sanctuary for children…. where their members can develop a higher vision of themselves.
