RICHMOND YOUTH PEACE SUMMIT
The 2013 Richmond Youth Peace Summit will take place Saturday, April 27th, 2013, at Northminster Baptist Church, 3121 Moss Side Avenue Richmond VA, 23222, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. The Summit is a program of the Richmond Peace Education Center (RPEC), a non-profit organization that has worked to promote peace, social justice and nonviolence in the Richmond community since 1980.
The Summit is a day-long conference, free to any metro-Richmond young person aged 12 through 19. Approximately 150 youth participants will spend their day in engaging, participatory workshops in conflict resolution skill-building and creative nonviolent expression through music, writing, and visual arts. In addition, the Summit will begin with a discussion on preventing youth gun violence. After lunch participants will also be treated to a performance of music, dance and drama by talented local teens, promoting peace, nonviolence and social justice. Every teen in attendance will gain concrete skills to resolve disagreements and improve their community.
WHY WE'RE ASKING FOR YOUR HELP
In years past, the Summit has been funded through small grants from several different sources, including the Richmond Police Department and the Virginia Department of Health. However, those funding sources were not available to us this year, so we need to find another way to support the event.
We anticipate it will cost $4500 to make the summit happen; we're hoping to raise at least half of that through Indigogo. Funds will go towards providing a space for the event, feeding the teen participants, printing materials and purchasing supplies for the workshops, and covering the expenses of organizing and publicizing the Summit. Your contributions will enable us to offer this program without redirecting funds away from the Peace Center’s other ongoing programs and projects. Remember, we offer this program to all Richmond-area teens free of charge.
RICHMOND YOUTH PEACE PROJECT
The Youth Peace Summit is part of the Richmond Youth Peace Project (RYPP), a program of the Richmond Peace Education Center in partnership with Drums No Guns. RYPP was launched in 2004 following the senseless murder of a local high school student. Through the years, the program has begun transforming Richmond’s culture of youth violence through innovative youth-led social change efforts. RYPP empowers teenagers with the training, mentorship and forums to educate other area youth about nonviolent alternatives to conflict. Increasingly, RYPP is also educating youth about race, class, and social change.
RYPP helps young people learn and apply techniques of nonviolent conflict resolution to help reduce the level of youth violence in the Richmond area. RYPP also empowers young people by involving them throughout the planning and presentation of RYPP events, and encouraging them to express themselves positively through the arts and creative pursuits. RYPP participants represent a broad cross-section of Richmond-area neighborhoods and schools. It’s a hope-giving leadership program that has made a big difference in the lives of our participants. (You can learn more about RPEC’s programs for young people and adults at www.rpec.org)
YOUTH-LED, YOUTH-DRIVEN.
The Summit was designed with the collaboration of teen participants in the Richmond Youth Peace Project and adult program staff. Since its inception about ten years ago, RYPP has trained almost 200 teens as nonviolent conflict resolution workshop leaders. Under the mentorship of experienced adult leaders, RYPP trainers lead workshops for groups of children and teens at local schools, community centers and other youth-serving agencies. Some of these young leaders have also gone on to serve on the RPEC board of directors, or become members of our adult conflict resolution training team.
We make every effort to have workshops either led or co-led by young people. In past years, feedback about the Summit from our youth participants has been positive and enthusiastic. They love their day at the summit. We’ve already heard from several people who’ve told us that this year’s lineup of workshops looks like the best ever.
The workshops we have confirmed for this year are:
Be Angry…But: Learn to manage your anger for positive results
Capoeira: The movements, music and history of this Afro-Brazilian martial art/dance form
Creative Drama for Social Change: Dramatic ways to communicate your message in everyday situations
Education Under Arrest: Many students are pushed out of school and into detention—How can we stop it?
Good Food in the Community: Food justice for all, and a cooking demonstration.
Hoop Dance Empowerment! Learn techniques to express yourself with a hoop as your partner
Junkyard Jam: Healing the community with rhythm, featuring Drums No Guns
Keep the Peace: Conflict resolution skills
Know Your Rights—Protect your legal rights in and outside of school
Lessons Of Laughter: Improvise the funny side of Attitude, Commitment, Teamwork and Trust
Love is Kind: Recognize dating abuse—and learn what to do about it.
Managing Myself and My Relationships: Taking control of how we treat others and how they treat us.
Mindfulness and Mediation: Reducing stress and building peace of mind
Teen Worker Rights: Stand up for your rights as a teen employee in Virginia
Ten Steps to Ase: The West African tradition of self-discovery, energy, peace and prosperity
Write a Novel in 6 Months: Plan your writing project, and then start telling your story.
Yoga with Nitya Gentle Yoga relaxation, meditation and self-exploration
Youth Leadership Working for Community Change: Making your voices heard
Zumba!: The fun of exercising to the Latin rhythms of salsa, merengue, hip-hop and more.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATION.
Please help us make the 2013 Richmond Youth Peace Summit a success! Support us with a tax-deductible financial contribution. We appreciate your support. And please spread the word about this opportunity through your social networks and the Indigogo sharing tools. Thank you!