Voices of Youth Council and Board of Directors Address Recent Tragedies in our Community

As the Voices of Youth Advisory Council, we are heartbroken by the loss of more young people in our community at the hands of police and community violence. True justice would be for Amir Locke, Jahmari Rice, Deshaun Hill and so many others to still be here with us today. We stand with their families and the community in calling for justice for all Black people.

As a Council, we are expected to be non-judgmental, to check our biases and to help others find hope where there seems to be no hope. When we are in community, we build relationships that are caring, supportive and trustworthy and engage with youth in holistic ways that recognize how mental, physical, spiritual and social health are interconnected and interrelated. We believe these same principles are critical to responding to the epidemic of police and community violence in our city.

The purpose of the Voices of Youth Advisory Council is to center youth and youth voice and to advocate for the well-being of young adults within our organization and across this city. Amir Locke, Jahmari Rice and Deshaun Hill’s lives mattered – as do each of the lives of the young people being served in the community. In response to these tragedies, we call on city and state leaders to permanently ban the use of no-knock search warrants and renew demands for proactive investments in education, mental health, housing and employment opportunities that improve the quality of life for our youth. We believe that these values reflect the world we need moving forward for our youth. As Black and brown youth we deal with a host of barriers – any of these young men could have been the youth we see at YouthLink, any of these young men could have been us.

In Solidarity,
Quincy Powe – Council Chair
Hassan As-Sidiq – Vice Chair
Kiara Williams – Treasurer
Clifton Traxler-Owens – Events Chair

YouthLink Community,

We come to you today, as the Board of Directors, unified in our purpose as stewards of the life-changing work of this great organization.

We want to share with the community our thoughts on both the death of Amir Locke (graphic video shows the Minneapolis Police Department performing a no-knock warrant resulting in the loss of his life) and the effect that his death has had on the youth we serve:

To truly be “youth-centered” we must fully acknowledge the feelings, emotions and concerns of the youth. At times of great community stress and indecision, we need to step up and be willing listeners and a support system.

The graphic nature of the video of the death of Amir Locke has intensified the feelings of fear, helplessness and depression in the young adults that we work for and with. Police activity that results in the death of young life affects the psyche of whole communities. While YouthLink provides mental health resources and partners with organizations and agencies committed to trauma response, it doesn’t eliminate the weight a young person carries amidst another community loss, especially a peer. The anxiety deepens as Amir’s death occurred in a setting very familiar to young adults experiencing homelessness or housing instability…staying with a friend or a family member. All the more tragic, Amir was not the focus of the police warrant, causing further trauma and mistrust.

We are committed, through our staff leadership, to provide the members of our community a safe space to grieve, speak out and engage in dialogue. We wholeheartedly support the Voices of Youth Advisory Council in engaging with the youth community to give voice to the serious life issues that need attention and action.

Let us all use this opportunity to not only define this moment, but to make a deeper commitment to social, economic and racial justice today. To all stakeholders connected to our organization, we invite you to learn and reflect on the meaning of social justice and the important role the youth we serve play in supporting and defending it.

Thank you to everyone that makes up the YouthLink community for your attention and your compassion.

Warmly,
YouthLink Board of Directors