This year, the recently elected anti-diversity caucus on the Wake County School Board thought that they could push their backwards agenda onto our community. What they found was a community determined to act to not only stop them from re-segregating education , but to work for more just and equitable schools for all children, from parents, members of the faith community, civil rights activists, and high school students. Students formed their own organization, NC HEAT, to amplify their voices in this struggle, and the work they did was an inspiration to all.
Now, we need your help to build off of the successes of this year and to be able to continue to do this important work in the new year. Can you help us meet our $4,000 Fall Fundraising goal?
This summer, 10 dynamic high school students from across Wake County who wanted to organize to save our schools and stop the re-segregation came together for the Wake Youth Organizing Institute. During the course of the nine week program, students gained the skills and tools to cultivate their leadership, organized several community outreach days, mobilized students and parents to the July 20 NAACP demonstration in Raleigh, and produced four video pieces documenting the struggle in Wake County.
Students formed their own organization, NC HEAT (Heroes Emerging Among Teens), which now has active members at nearly ten high schools in Wake County. They partnered with NC Equals to increase youth voting, played a leading role in organizing the October 7 National Day of Action to Defend Education march in Raleigh, and have continued to engage their peers in the work to create more just and equitable schools. On November 20, the different
chapters of NC HEAT convened at the YWCA for a Fall Training Institute to develop their organizing skills and lay out campaign plans for the spring semester.
In order to continue to be able to do this important organizing, we need your help. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation that goes directly to support youth-led organizing in Wake County. Every donation, no matter the amount, will go a long way in helping to ensure that we have the resources necessary to continue this work.
You can make a donation one of two ways. Either click the “Donate” button on the side of this website, or you can write a check payable to “Action for Community in Raleigh” and write “Youth Organizing Institute” in the memo line, and mail to:
Action for Community in Raleigh
331 W. Main St, Ste 408
Durham, NC 27701
With your help, we can keep raising the temperature in the struggle for more just and equitable schools into 2011! Thank you for your continued support of youth-led organizing Wake County!