Fellowship Experience

The following blog was written by Marcus Pope, a junior at Cesar Chavez Public Policy High School, who joined us for a 3 week fellowship program.

My Fellowship experience with Mobilizing America’s Youth was very good. I gained a lot of exposure. The little things like inputting timesheets into spreadsheets, researching, and attending staff meetings, all made me feel like I was part of the MAY staff. Working with MAY was cool because you get a feel of what an organization is really about.

While working with MAY, I helped them get organized. I helped them keep a record of all the foundations they have been in contact with. I put the contact information of those organizations in a spreadsheet. I researched Kansas City, Missouri to get some information about MAY holding a conference there. I also researched The Hip Hop Political Convention to get some information about it. I have also kept a record of assignments that some of MAY’s staff members completed. I also researched biographies of people who were involved with organization.

Besides helping MAY get organized, I also did things outside of the office. Along with some other staff members, I donated books to a local recreation center. I also attended a meeting at the Capitol. The topic of discussion was student debt. There were democratic representatives like, Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Miller Meek, and Rep. Ryan talking about how raising student loan interest rates were wrong. Besides those representatives, there were some students who were currently in college talking about the effects of the student loan interest rate increase. It was good exposure for me to see and hear a political meeting about an issue. Before going there, I never really witnessed right before my eyes, a meeting that included lots of supporters and representatives.

While working with MAY, I learned that if one wants to make change then one would have to do it his or her self, because the way the government is run right now, there’s no automatic change in the world unless you attempt to make change. I also learned that it takes a lot of constructed time, dedication, hard work and commitment in order to get your voice and opinion heard by the people that you want to hear it. It also takes all of those things in order to do something or take action against an issue or problem. I’ve really enjoyed working with Mobilizing America’s Youth for my fellowship.

The Youth Policy Action Center

For the last few weeks, I have been spending a lot of time working on the Youth Policy Action Center website (http://www.youthpolicyactioncenter.org). I think the Center is really taking off, with 10 new members in the last month. Just today, I had a conference call with Maya and two representatives from Future Voters of America. I'm glad they're adding their organization to the 80+ members working with the Center already.

Right now I'm working on involving our members more with the site, helping them take advantage of our resources to better pursue their agendas. I'm especially glad to be helping those organizations who stake out strong positions on legislation, but don't have the technology that we do. I think the software will really help those organizations pursue effective campaigns to get their message to their representatives, senators, media outlets, whoever!

I have very high hopes for the future of the website. I think with time and hard work, the great ideas behind the Center will really expand the effectiveness of young Americans seeking to make a difference. I hope politicians sit up and take notice when we reveal the political potential of the youth!

Student Debt

Here at Mobilize we have been doing alot of exciting work lately concerning our revamped Student Debt Campaign. We have re-done our entire Student Debt section of the website, adding an FAQ, as well as a Guess the Debt contest page, where you can go and enter your guess for how much the national student debt will increase before congress takes concrete action to restore student aid programs, and automatically be entered to have the first payment of your own student debt paid.

We have high hopes for the Guess the Debt contest in terms of participation, but with the contest we really hope to educate people on Student Debt. Our first goal is to tell people to consolidate their student debt now, because the rates will increase more than 2 points, starting July 1st. This translates into an average of about $4500 in increased student debt for the average American student with student debt. Visit our Student Debt FAQ page for links and helpful information concerning consolidating your debt.

After Students guess the debt, we also encourage them to do more to help themselves. We have a tool on the Student Debt page to contact congress, and include your own stories to tell them if you like. In addition, we have put a link to both a press release concerning our Student Debt campaign, as well as directions on how to submit a press release to your local media outlet. If either of these options sound good to you, we would love to have you participate.

If you have any questions concerning any of the Student Debt campaign, don't hesitate to contact me, at Kris@Mobilize.org. Thanks!

Campus Progress/The Nation Journalism Conference

On Friday, June 2, I attended the Campus Progress/The Nation Student Journalism Conference. The event, held at the offices of the Center for American Progress, gave progressive students from across the country the opportunity to learn about journalism and participate in skill building break out sessions. I’ve always been attracted to journalism, and the conference introduced me to some basic journalism skills as well as granted me the opportunity to hear some inspirational progressive speakers.

The day began with an introduction by Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation magazine. She emphasized the crucial role that the press plays in equipping citizens with information about the ideas driving politics. Katrina eloquently worked to construct a picture of hope for a democracy with responsible, ethics-driven journalism. Katrina also noted some disillusionment, which was an inescapable motif in the speeches at this left-learning conference. Following Katrina was a panel discussion titled “On Politics: political writing and reporting” and then a lecture by one of David Horowitz’s “101 most dangerous academics,” Victor Navasky, on the importance of opinion journalism.

After the morning’s activities came the first break out sessions. I attended Max Blumenthal's “Reporting About the Right” to learn how to better orchestrate difficult interviews. Matt shared his experiences with the more extreme factions on the Right, including a group of white supremacists. He noted that getting access, especially to ideological opponents, is often a matter of luck. He did, however, emphasize the importance honesty and ethics throughout his presentation even when his stories were unflattering.

The second breakout session I attended was “Getting and Crafting the Interview” with Laura Flanders of Air America Radio. Laura was a compelling speaker who balanced an inspiring combination of both determined idealism and grounded realism. She adhered strictly to the professional ethics of journalism frequently returning to the responsibility of a journalist to the public interest. While she acknowledged the importance of access in a journalist’s career, she regretted that so many journalists are no longer asking difficult yet crucial questions in an effort to maintain access to key Washington players. She noted that often stories can be crafted from other sources and that sound bites from big name interviewees are not a crucial pillar to a good story. She also emphasized setting up goals for each interview and incorporating a narrative arch to structure the discourse. Her most resonating suggestion, at least for me, was to invoke a 2nd level of “why” into the interview. By using this tactic, an interviewer can go beyond the talking points and into the interviewee’s more personal reflections.

Following a panel discussion on “Covering corporate America,” came a final ensemble of Katrina vanden Heuvel, Eric Alterman, and the infamous reporter Helen Thomas. Each panelist had distinct conceptions of the present, past, and the future of progressive politics. Helen Thomas began by expressing her disappointment that the audience was merely sitting in the offices of a think tank instead of protesting in the streets. Her candid and direct announcement roused the audience, but it was quickly countered by the pragmatic Eric Alterman. He emphasized the importance of realpolitik for empowering progressive policies, yet he was consistently challenged by Katrian vanden Heuvel who felt progressives needed an assertive foundation of consistent principles to recapture the public’s confidence. The sparring between both Katrina and Eric was both lively and informative. Overall, the diversity in the panel was satisfying and an appropriate end to the conference.