What is BIYP?

View project brochure here

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The Black Immigrant Youth Project is Priority Africa Network's pilot  initiative that addresses the need to build capacity and leadership of Black immigrant youth whose experiences are not neatly captured within a single narrative of the African American history.

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BIYP sets out to include distinctly different lived experiences and identities of Black immigrant youth within PAN's framework of race and immigration, exploring engagement on both racial justice and immigrants' rights agendas.

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The goal of this project is threefold: 

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• host a series of conversations with diverse Black youth as listening sessions exploring similarities and differences in migration experience that may diverge from the standard narrative of Black/African American identity

• examine Pan-Africanism as a relevant ideology for contemporary youth mobilization and activism in social justice agenda. Do contemporary Black youth identify with Pan-Africanist ideals, is there is continuation or divergence of a new iteration of it within the social justice movements in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. 

• Lastly, to form better understanding of the issues that hold deep concerns Black immigrant youth activism at this particular political moment, from voting rights and civic engagement, to shifting policy through narrative and culture.

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This pilot project will hold its first open presentations and learning process at the upcoming conference of Afrikan Black Coalition (ABC) to be held in Santa Barbara mid January.  ABC's mission is to "organize students for ultimate liberation" and convenes some 800 Black students across all campuses of University of California. 

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This project is informed and led by youth:

Bria Woodsen identifies as an African American, a Pan Africanist with a track record of leadership in racial and social justice arenas.

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Hareina Haile identifies as Eritrean-American, with extensive history in dual identity as a young, Black immigrant leader.

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Both can be reached by email at: youthmobilize@priorityafrica.org

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