Zeke Berzoff-Cohen

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Youth Organizing in the 21st Century

Jan 13, 2014·110 visitors

Dawnya Johnson

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Stage· 68 messages

Jan 13, 2014

Zeke Cohen is the Executive Director of The Intersection, Dawnya Johnson is one of the groups student leaders. The Intersection , organizing and advocacy to high schoolers from Baltimore. In 2012 The Intersection helped lead a major campaign to pass the MD Dream Act, then in 2013 we helped pass the MD Firearm Safety Act which banned assault weapons. Baltimoreintersection.comnnWe will discuss our work and the role of youth organizing in the era of Obama.

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 11:45 PM

Hey everybody, welcome to our Tawk on Youth Organizing, sorry for the technical delay

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 11:46 PM

Hey Dawnya

Dawnya Johnson · 11:46 PM

Hey there

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 11:46 PM

Dawnya, could you describe what it was like growing up as a foster kid in Baltimore?

Dawnya Johnson · 11:47 PM

I grew up in Baltimore city without the guidance of my parents.

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 11:47 PM

what was that like?

Dawnya Johnson · 11:48 PM

It was tough because I was living in poverty, without parents, in a system that seemed as if it worked against me

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 11:48 PM

Give me an example of what made growing up in Bmore without parents tough

Dawnya Johnson · 11:49 PM

As a youth in Baltimore a lot of what you have to get used to is losing people and I've done that a lot

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 11:49 PM

such as?

Dawnya Johnson · 11:52 PM

My cousin was the closest thing I ever had to a father before the intersection....he was great. He made sure that every need I had was met. But my cousin was involved in gang violence and was shot six times by a rival gang member. He bled before the

Dawnya Johnson · 11:53 PM

...Ambulance got to the scene

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 11:53 PM

That's really rough, what was life like after your cousin was killed

Dawnya Johnson · 11:54 PM

It was hard, the person who had initially been my support beam was gone, the person who served as my motivation. So my grade trickled from a's to b's to c's all the way down to f and I couldn't find the motivation to care

Dawnya Johnson · 11:55 PM

I became really depressed and started getting into trouble

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 11:55 PM

You don't have to be specific, but what does trouble entail for most kids in Baltimore?

Dawnya Johnson · 11:57 PM

Well, in a city like Baltimore where theres a 44% unemployment rate for youth

Dawnya Johnson · 11:58 PM

we often end up getting into illegal activities like selling drugs

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 11:58 PM

and you found yourself going down that path?

Dawnya Johnson · 11:59 PM

Yea, without my cousin there to balance me I kind of fell on the wrong path and for many unlucky youth, that path never leads to a positive place

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:00 AM

I hear you, I saw a lot of that while teaching middle school, so what pulled you out of the slump?

Dawnya Johnson · 12:01 AM

Well I met The Intersection

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:01 AM

for the good people that don't know, what is the Intersection in your words

Dawnya Johnson · 12:02 AM

The Intersection is a youth led group, that trains students to become leaders and to activate change for the issues that they see in their communities

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:02 AM

and how did you find The Intersection? What was your involvement like?

Dawnya Johnson · 12:03 AM

One of my friends got recommended for The Intersection and they wanted me to come check it out with them. I went and I loved what I saw happening in the room.

Dawnya Johnson · 12:04 AM

Youth where activating changing and having the difficult conversations about race, class, and issues facing our communities.

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:05 AM

when you say "activating change" what does that mean?

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:05 AM

what do you do to activate change

Dawnya Johnson · 12:06 AM

We planned what we wanted to do, we mobilized resources and we made it happen :)

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:06 AM

give me a few examples of work that you did specifically

Dawnya Johnson · 12:08 AM

Well the first campaing I did with The Intersection was around the MAryland Dream Act. We knew that like the kids who took a stand in burmingham Alabama.....it was our turn

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:08 AM

explain

Dawnya Johnson · 12:10 AM

The Dream Act was a piece of legislationl that wolujld allow undocumented students to go to college at an in-state tution rate.... I saw how marginalized this group of people was and it reminded me of so many other struggles that people like African

Dawnya Johnson · 12:10 AM

Americans had

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:10 AM

but you aren't undocumented, so why did you care?

Dawnya Johnson · 12:12 AM

I met this amaing Dreamer who is still a big motivation in my life. He told his story, he'd lost his parents, and the only thing that really motivazted him was his chance to have a better life with education and it reminded me of myself.....I didn't

Dawnya Johnson · 12:12 AM

have parents and the only chance I had of escaping the viscous cycle of poverty was by getting an education

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:13 AM

so you wanted this young man to have the same opportunity that you had?

Dawnya Johnson · 12:13 AM

Yes, he was smart and well spoken, he'd worked hard throughout high school, and all he was in every way except on paper American

Dawnya Johnson · 12:14 AM

he deserved the chance to have a college education

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:14 AM

cool, so what exactly did you and the other Intersection folks do in order to advocate for the Dream Act?

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:14 AM

how did you changethe public narrative

Dawnya Johnson · 12:15 AM

We held press conferences, we canvassed knocking on over 4,000 doors in Baltimore and we showed that these where our peers, neighbors, and fellow classmates and that we as a community would stand behind them.

Dawnya Johnson · 12:16 AM

Alot of people thought that black people wouldn't support the Dream Act but Intersection students and alot of other black people in Baltimore did

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:17 AM

so were there any folks that questioned why you, a black kid from Baltimore was out there advocating for other peoples education?

Dawnya Johnson · 12:18 AM

So we were out canvassing and some women asked why I, a young black girl would support this, and before I could speak a man from next door did

Dawnya Johnson · 12:19 AM

He talked about how he went to war and fought for a nation were all people could have the right to an education

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:19 AM

that's an awesome story

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:19 AM

so in the end, what happened?

Dawnya Johnson · 12:20 AM

In the end, I think the women saw the parelles, she saw that blacks and Hispanics weren't that different, that we shared similar struggles

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:20 AM

nice, and what about with The Dream, act, how did the referendum end up?

Dawnya Johnson · 12:21 AM

So amazingly, but not surprisingly the dream act passed 2-to-1 in Maryland

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:22 AM

good work. So how have you changed through this experience of working with The Intersection

Dawnya Johnson · 12:23 AM

I think the Intersection has showed me th4e huge role that youth voice have to play in conversation where youth voice are generally shunned from

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:23 AM

like which conversations?

Dawnya Johnson · 12:24 AM

like conversations around education reform, gun reform, immigration reform, etc. Anything issue that effects students, should be open to student voices

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:25 AM

fair enough, before we wrap up, talk a bit about your own personal transformation through this program

Dawnya Johnson · 12:27 AM

Wow! ITs crazy to think that just a while ago my life was on such a downward spiral. I've had the oppurtunity to speak with councilmen, senators, and the govenor, my grades have raised from d's to c's to b's and now I have a 90 average.....I really

Dawnya Johnson · 12:27 AM

feel that giving students ownership over their education and communties makes all the difference

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:28 AM

awesome, agree wholeheatedly And I can definitely say that you have enhanced my life and the lives of SOOOO many other folks from around Baltimore

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:28 AM

I'm really proud of the work you've done. Final though: when folks think about Baltimore, often there only point of reference is the Wire, what do you want people to think about when they think of our kids

Dawnya Johnson · 12:30 AM

I want people to think of the grit and tenacity that we as baltimore youth have, the struggles we share and the places that we are going.

Dawnya Johnson · 12:32 AM

I want them to see that we are not statistic, or test scores, or any other ruler used to measure us....we have greatness, we have talents, and pretty soon...on the front of every forbes magazine and every newspaper will be the name of a baltimore....

Dawnya Johnson · 12:32 AM

youth

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:33 AM

get em!

Zeke Berzoff-Cohen · 12:33 AM

Dawnya, thanks so much for Tawking to me. And thank you to the wonderful people of Tawkers for giving us this platform

Dawnya Johnson · 12:33 AM

Thanks so much guys! I hope we get to talk again