Jane Sapp at the 2017 Encampment.
Program director Michael Carter and education director Jane Sapp share their vision for the 2018 Encampment.
What stands out for you in the 2018 curriculum?
Michael: I’m excited that we have a powerful curriculum focused on voting rights and education reform that the Encampers can take back to their home communities. These themes came from conversations with local grassroots organizers in the Southeast, but their importance and intersectionality are universal. We are linking the Encampers with local youth (and adult) organizers so there can be a true exchange that increases understanding of strategies for change that lifts up the spirits.
Jane: One of the objectives is to provide experiences that grow the young people’s activism skills. These include mentoring the Encampers to design and lead a workshop session; field trips to local civil rights museums like the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth & Reconciliation (Selma CTNR) where Encampers can learn movement history and see what local activists are doing today; and service learning opportunities with Southern Echo, the ACLU and the Nollie Jenkins Center.
One of my favorite ways to build activism is our trip to Duck Hill, MS, for their July 4 celebration. The young people will not only meet community activists from different generations, but get to share that community’s culture in an authentic setting. They will also help with an environmental clean-up project.
We understand that the Encampers will have a chance to work with Chokwe Antar Lumumba, the mayor of Jackson, MS, and a lifelong community activist who is currently working for education reform.
Jane: Yes, education reform is a place where young people live — they are in schools directly experiencing the inequalities in the system. At the Encampment, they will learn about a range of experiences and hear from a variety of people working in education reform and its challenges. There’s an opportunity to work with the mayor. Joyce Parker, director of Citizens for a Better Greenville, will bring a deeper understanding of the School to Prison Pipeline. We will meet with girls from the Nollie Jenkins Center who are organizing against corporal punishment, which is still legal and directed mainly toward Black youth. We also will have an evening of dialogue with the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians about their educational system.
Voting reform is a major focus at the 2018 Encampment in this election year.
Jane: Yes — simply put, we want to help young people understand why it’s important to vote. Part of that is understanding the history and struggle for the vote. We will introduce them to current state and local activists who will focus on electoral and legislative politics. They will be involved in voting-related activities, including research, getting the word out and collecting census data. The idea is to help them think of themselves as young citizens, actively engaged and ready to contribute to their communities and country.
Michael: We provide experiences of democracy in practice, and that enables them to envision a truly democratic world where everyone has a voice.
What are you most excited about?
Jane: The young people have the opportunity to interact with other young people who are organizing for social justice. We are supporting the growth of the youth movement. By going into local communities, the Encampers get to see the realities and the complexities of the work for social change. Of course, I’m also excited about the arts workshops, and especially what will come out of the music workshop!
That brings us to the 2018 InterGen(erational) weekend.
Michael: This weekend will be youth-centered, with the Encampers lifting up the knowledge they have brought with them that was strengthened at the Encampment. The Encampers will be facilitating workshops for adults and youth. They can practice the skills they have been cultivating, share what they have learned with some mastery, and engage in challenging conversations across traditional cultural and generational divides.
Jane: We want to demonstrate what young people are able to bring to the conversation — this moment we’re in right now, where we are seeing young people begin to rise — despite so much that is thrown in their way to discourage them. Now is the time when we need to be there to give them our support and share whatever they feel will be helpful. It’s also an opportunity for us to learn from them about what this movement is and what can sustain it.
The Urgency of Now
Support the newest generation of changemakers at
EFC’s 2018 InterGen Weekend, July 20–22, Raymond, MS.
Find out what this year’s Encampers are passionate about and participate in youth-led intergenerational, cross-cultural and inspiring community activities!
Contact us at admin@encampmentforcitizenship.org or 831-515-6775.
Michael Carter at the 2017 Encampment.