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16 Bars - Youth Offending Justice

A theater piece of stories of young people of color who have been criminalized in New York City

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16 Bars - Youth Offending Justice

16 Bars - Youth Offending Justice

16 Bars - Youth Offending Justice

16 Bars - Youth Offending Justice

16 Bars - Youth Offending Justice

A theater piece of stories of young people of color who have been criminalized in New York City

A theater piece of stories of young people of color who have been criminalized in New York City

A theater piece of stories of young people of color who have been criminalized in New York City

A theater piece of stories of young people of color who have been criminalized in New York City

Louisa Strothman
Louisa Strothman
Louisa Strothman
Louisa Strothman
1 Campaign |
New York, United States
$145 USD 4 backers
2% of $5,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Overview
16 Bars-Youth (Off)Ending the Justice, is a production by young New Yorkers who have had interactions in the city will debut at the New School on Saturday, September 10th, 2016 as part of a large, weekend-long conference, Arts Advocacy: Youth in the System that will tackle issues facing youth involved in the criminal justice system. We are hoping to document and edit the production so that it can be replicated with future groups of young people.

Our Story

In March, several students from exalt (a development program for court-involved youth) and a New School student joined a bus of young people to meet with senators to advocate for the issue of Raise the Age. After talking with many senators and listening to the stories of graduates of exalt, as a team we recognized that these stories should be heard on a larger level and are fundamentally important to the passing of this law. This past summer, Eugene Lang  partnered with exalt to develop a performance, 16 Bars-Youth (Off)Ending Justice. The style of this piece is documentary theater, so the content is based off of interviews performed by the students with each other as well as facilitated by the teachers. The culminating performance will take place at a conference hosted by Eugene Lang professors, Arts Advocacy: Youth in the System also on the topic of Raise the Age. During the three day event, students will have the opportunity to meet CBOs working on this issue and plan and propose a related event. Friday, September 9th there will be a 'Thinking Out Loud' event featuring successful artists who work with youth of color in New York City, including Liza Jessie Peterson, creator of Peculiar Patriot, and Jamal Joseph, a teacher at Columbia University, former Black Panther and creator of Chapter and Verse.

Raise the Age

New York and North Carolina are the only states that automatically try 16-17 year olds as adults. Latest scientific research shows that the frontal cortex (decision making part) of the brain is not fully developed until age 25. Violent offenders aged 13-15 are sometimes also prosecuted in adult court and receive adult level sentences. Youth housed in adult facilities are 36 times more likely to commit suicide than in youth facilities. 80% of young people released from adult facilities end up back in the prison system. Over 70% of the children and youth arrested are Black or Latino.  Of those sentenced to incarceration, 80% are Black and Latino. For more information visit http://raisetheageny.com.

Our Team

Brian Lewis--Co-Facilitator/Director

Cecilia Rubino--Co-Facilitator/Director

Louisa Strothman--Project Manager/Assistant Director

Naomi Khanukayev--Media Designer/Assistant Director

Aasim Rasheed--Assistant Media Designer

Morgan Stevenson--Assistant Director

Josefina Perez--Assistant Director/Stage Manager

What We Need

This money will go to making sure this project makes the impact it needs to to get this law changed. And with your donation, you have the satisfaction of helping out a worthy cause, and if you so choose one of our lovely perks. 

Specifically this money will go to:

  • payment for editor so a film of the process of the piece can be shown and official trailer

  • funds to document and evaluate the performance so that it can be recreated with other groups of young people facing the same or similar issues. 

  • Honorariums for guest speakers at the Arts Advocacy conference who are all artists and scholars who speak about the issues that the young people in the performance face. 

  • Cameras to record performance

The Impact

The past two years Governor Cuomo has proposed a bill to raise the age of criminal responsibility which has been overturned both times. The house is very divided on this issue and the issue has not gotten the attention it deserves. This means there is still work to put pressure on our representatives for the next legislative session. When talking with legislators we learned that many of them are not only unaware of the facts of brain development in young people, but also that they had never heard stories of the kids who are directly impacted by these laws. 

Other Ways You Can Help

  • Spread the word about Raise the Age, and this campaign! Register for and attend the symposium: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/arts-advocacy-youth-in-the-system-tickets-27007869264 as well as assist with outreach by posting to social media
  • Get educated on the laws of your state and elected officials, including prosecutors, judges, legislators and many other people who have a hand in making and carrying out laws and petition them to get Raise the Age and other worthy causes passed
  •  Spread the word about Raise the Age, and this campaign!
  • Get educated on the laws of your state and elected officials, including prosecutors, judges, legislators and many other people who have a hand in making and carrying out laws and petition them to get Raise the Age and other worthy causes passed

 

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Choose your Perk

Thank you in the program

$5 USD
For the September 10th showing, your name will be featured as one of the people who made this possible
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Thank You Card

$20 USD
You will receive a signed thank you card from all of the actors/writers in this project.
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September 2016
0 out of 50 of claimed
Ships to United States of America

Reserved Seat for Performance

$50 USD
You will be able to reserve a seat to attend the September 10th performance (in/near the front) of 16 Bars-Youth (Off)Ending Justice or the September 9th Talking Out Loud in the Old John Tishman Auditorium at The New School. Please make sure to still reserve a seat for either event on the Eventbrite page.
Estimated Shipping
September 2016
0 out of 30 of claimed

Sit In on Rehearsal

$100 USD
You will have the opportunity to watch a tech or dress rehearsal in progress during the week of September 5th as we prepare for the official performance September 10th.
Estimated Shipping
September 2016
0 out of 10 of claimed

Lunch w/a Creator

$250 USD
We will treat you to lunch with one of the creators of this project and discuss the process and production and any other questions you might have.
Estimated Shipping
September 2016
0 out of 6 of claimed
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