DETROIT -- On April 28th, Michigan Round Table and Detroit Future Youth (DFY) hosted over one hundred students from five area schools for a day of workshops, live performances and youth leadership skill building. Michigan Roundtable, a youth centered civil rights organization whose mission is to overcome discrimination and racism by crossing racial, religious, ethnic and cultural boundaries, is one of twelve organizations that participate in DFY.

The gathering also saw launched DFY network's Road to the Allied Media Conference fundraising campaign, organized primarily by youth from Michigan roundtable. http://www.indiegogo.com/detroitfutureyouth?c=home

The day began with an opening ceremony, where youth were invited to give live performances. Afterwards, youth from recent DPS walkouts spoke and held a Q and A about the media organizing process. Many youth in the audience identified with the multitude of reasons youth walked out and asked for advice on conducting their own walk outs.

The gathering then shifted into workshops where organizations involved with DFY practiced and perfected popular education workshops that will be used to create a curriculum mixtape that will serve as a comprehensive guide to youth led media organizing for organizations and youth throughout the US. All of the workshops were run by youth leaders and reflected the work each individual organization is doing within Detroit. Youth participants in the workshops were surveyed for feedback on how they felt the workshops were run and applied to their lives.

Workshop topics included: Value Added Products, Interviews and Storytelling, How to Create and Run your own Event, Sexism and Gender Justice, and more.


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Through every single aspect of the day, youth were centered as leaders and learners. "I felt ready when I came into the gathering and qualified when I left," said Anthony Grimmett, a youth leader who ran the Eastern Michigan Environmental Action Council's workshop with youth leaders, Roger Boyd, Shabrine Salam, and Malik Harris. "I came to the gathering with intelligence and questions and gained wisdom and more questions."