YOHANA Awarded B.L.I.N.G. Grant to Organize Citywide Youth Conference
Mark your calendars for the first-ever SFCYC on May 19!
Congratulations to YOHANA for being selected by the Youth Leadership Institute to receive funding for the first-ever San Francisco City Youth Conference (SFCYC)! SFCYC is envisioned by SOMCAN's young leaders as a two-day conference for high school-aged youth across the City to connect, educate, empower, and build solidarity with one another about their neighborhood issues and struggles.
Kapitbahay Times recently sat down with three of the main organizers– Kaitlyn Evangelista, Jayevann Gutierrez, and Janine Lacap– to find out more. Listen to our exclusive interview.
If you are an organization, small business, or individual interested in sponsoring the first-ever San Francisco City Youth Conference, please contact Alexa Drapiza at 415-255-7693 or youthorganizer@somcan.org.
TRANSCRIPT:
KAPITBAHAY TIMES: So, I am here today with three members of YOHANA. Do you guys want to introduce yourselves really quickly? Just your name, how old are you, what grade, and what school you go to.
JANINE: My name is Janine. I go to Gal.
JAYEVANN: I'm Jayevann. I go to Gal, and I’m 16.
KAITLYN: I'm Kaitlyn. I'm 17 and I go to Lowell.
KAPITBAHAY TIMES: And all three of you live in the SoMa, is that right?
JAYEVANN: No.
KAITLYN: I live in the Tenderloin.
KAPITBAHAY TIMES: Cool. Thank you guys for taking time out of your busy schedules. I know you have a lot of homework. Basically, I just wanted to ask you about the exciting news that happened. Last week, you went to the Youth Leadership Institute, and you received a grant called the B.L.I.N.G. Grant. What is the B.L.I.N.G. Grant?
JANINE: The B.L.I.N.G. Grant is for the San Francisco City Youth Conference that we were going to host around May or June.
KAITLYN: Basically, it’s them funding youth in the City to do these projects that involve social justice or fighting against systems of oppression.
KAPITBAHAY TIMES: Did you all work together on the grant application?
EVERYONE: Yeah.
KAITLYN: But we collectively thought of the whole conference.
KAPITBAHAY TIMES: You as YOHANA members?
KAITLYN: Yeah.
KAPITBAHAY TIMES: What was the inspiration for the youth conference?
JANINE: The inspiration was based on the different conferences we’ve attended. We just wanted to do something around San Francisco, because it was mostly about Filipinos. We wanted to incorporate all the different problems that everyone is facing, not just Filipinos.
KAITLYN: For example, a conference we went to was Kabataan Magkaisa. And that was a conference of Filipino youth from all over the nation. And that gave us an idea to combine with all the San Francisco kids that are trying to do the same motive as us.
KAPITBAHAY TIMES: So what did you really enjoy about the Kabataan Magkaisa conference that really inspired you guys to start your own conference?
JAYEVANN: What inspired us to start our own conference is the the workshops they did, like Filipino history and what problems we are facing in the Philippines.
KAPITBAHAY TIMES: Just in the Philippines?
JAYEVANN: And connecting it to here.
KAPITBAHAY TIMES: I guess it should be noted that Jayevann and Janine were born in the Philippines. And Kaitlyn, were you born in the U.S.?
KAITLYN: Yeah, I was born in the U.S.
KAPITBAHAY TIMES: As high school students coming from immigrant backgrounds or immigrant families, how do you think that experience differs from, say, white American high school students or students whose families immigrated here a long time ago?
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KAPITBAHAY TIMES: Asking Janine and Jayevann specifically, how old were you when you first came here? What was that experience like when you went to school, assuming you had to learn a new culture and a new language as well?
JAYEVANN: When I first came here I was 15 years old. When I first go to school in the U.S., the first problem that I needed to face is how to speak another language.
JANINE: I migrated here when I was 11. I started middle school here; I went to Everett. One challenge I faced was the culture shock. It was different because in the Philippines we’re all just Filipinos but over here there are Mexicans, Chinese… It was crazy, and I was overwhelmed.
KAPITBAHAY TIMES: What about you, Kaitlyn? I presume you’re second generation?
KAITLYN: I was born here. My parents did not teach me Tagalog, but I’ve learned to understand it through watching TFC and GMA. Specifically, why they didn’t teach me is because they wanted my English to be better. The way I pronounce words will be better if I don’t speak Tagalog, which is contradictory… not contradictory... but which takes back on me because I don’t get to connect to my culture and my background. Part of that is being able to speak or understand Tagalog. My experience differs from White Americans, even though I was born here. Just knowing that I’m Filipino and the color of my skin. White Americans are culturally accepted in America, but for us, we’re kind of seen as different and looked down upon for that. Even though it shouldn’t be because we’re just trying to make it through the day like they are.
KAPITBAHAY TIMES: Thanks for sharing that, guys. I know that was a little deep, but I appreciate you sharing your experiences. Let’s switch it back again to the conference. How much is the funding, if you don’t mind me asking?
JANINE: We got $4,000.
KAPITBAHAY TIMES: Nice! If the three of you controlled the budget, what’s your dream conference or crazy vision for what it would look like?
JANINE: You want to go first? I got a whole list.
KAITLYN: In the other conferences that we went to, I felt like we only went to a couple workshops. And there was a lot that I wanted to see what’s up about it. I hope that we get more time to go to different workshops. I hope that we actually spend time trying to engage with other youth orgs. Not to be in our little cliques because that’s how you really start solidarity when you actually talk to each other. Hopefully we have an activity that loosens up everybody. Not coming there and feeling “oh, I’m kind of scared of everybody”. Another thing is to have open mic or time for people to perform and showcase their talent. That would be cool.
JANINE: I also want more workshops because last time we went to a conference it was two hours long– that was too much time in a workshop. We only did 2 or 3. I really didn’t enjoy only learning about three things; I wanted to do more. Also the timing was a little bit off. I wanted this to be a whole day of learning but then at the same there’s a kick-it in the middle. It’s not rushed but more of a chill day where you just learn.
KAPITBAHAY TIMES: You said education. Were you thinking about specific topics already?
JANINE: We wanted to have a workshop wherein people would learn about their tenant rights and more on gentrification... which places are already gentrified and are currently being gentrified.
KAITLYN: I also think that’s something we want to talk to other orgs about because we want to make sure that it’s not just our group that is putting in what are the workshops we want. We want to make sure everybody has input into the conference so that we can all try to get our perspectives on our different parts of the city and what’s going on.
ALEXA: I think it’s important, too, that we do collaborations with our allies so they can partake in this conference. We can only speak for the South of Market. We can’t really speak on what’s going in the Sunset or Mission or in Nob Hill or in Chinatown... We will have the genuine and the actual of what’s going on in their communities because they’re the ones that live and work in their community. We can only say so much.
KAPITBAHAY TIMES: Sorry, do you want to say your name really quick?
ALEXA: Oh, I’m Alexa!
KAPITBAHAY TIMES: And you’re the…?
ALEXA: …Youth Organizer at SOMCAN.
KAPITBAHAY TIMES: What I was going to say was what I really appreciate about what you guys are doing is that– and I don’t know if you know this– it’s really rare to have something that’s really youth-led. It’s not just some adult saying “have this empowering event”, but it’s actually coming from you guys. That’s really special.
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KAPITBAHAY TIMES: I guess that’s it. Any last things you want to say?
ALEXA: It’s a free event!
JANINE: Yeah, it’s a free event.
JAYEVANN: Two-day conference!
KAITLYN: (Inaudible)
JAYEVANN: You’re gonna learn about systems of oppression.
KAITLYN: Yeee!
ALEXA: Not just systems of oppression, but also different workshops about issues, struggles, and challenges that youth face in different communities. I think that’s the main aspect. If anybody wants to do that workshop though... But, yeah, that’s the main focus though of this conference: to be able to gather all the youth and hear other people’s challenging struggles in their community. And meet other youth in the community.
EVERYONE: Woo-hoo!
(Transcript has been edited for clarity.)