This article was first published in People’s World.

A spirit of resistance filled the New Haven Peoples Center as an overflow crowd celebrated the power of unity at the 51st People’s World Black History celebration themed “Black Youth Leadership – Resistance 2.0 in Today’s Freedom Struggle.”

“This is a fight for our freedom, our families, and our future,” said keynote speaker Aaron Booe, national Young Communist League USA organizer. “Victory depends on our ability to unite, resist, and build the better world we deserve.”

The celebration included awarding of prizes for the annual arts and writing competition for grades 8 to 12, a youth panel, and African drumming.

Welcoming the event, emcee Mary Thigpen received huge applause saying the event was part of building the resistance movement.

The celebration kicked off with presentations by the winners of the arts and writing competition.

Third place winner Jay’Den Morris, a sophomore from Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School, recited her poem “Equality In Our School,” emphasizing the importance of equality and unity among students.

Second place winner, a senior at Educational Center for the Arts, Jayden Davis’ dance choreography to Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come” was presented in an extraordinary video.

First place winner Journey Rosa, a freshman at Sound School, performed her powerful poem “The Color Line” about race and the inspiration of historical freedom fighters for today’s struggle against hate, racism, sexism, and bigotry.

A dynamic youth panel discussion, moderated by Ramzie Highsmith, art teacher and activist, featured John Carlos Serana Musser, a student representative on the New Haven Board of Education; Torell Yarbough, artist and youth organizer in New Haven’s Newhall/Dixwell neighborhood, his mentor, Remidy Shareef, a leader of New Haven Rising; Ambar Santiago-Rojas, a youth immigrant rights organizer; and A.J. Johnson, youth organizer with “Ice The Beef” anti-violence organization.

A.J. discussed the negative effects of social media on young people including misinformation and emphasized addressing the issues, urging the youth to consider how current events will impact their lives.

John talked about the difficulty of convincing young people they can make a difference, and how organizing and a strategic plan can help address the fear among students due to Trump administration deportations and dismantling the Department of Education.

Ambar highlighted the challenges of motivating young people to take action and getting adults to listen to their voices. She discussed her efforts to raise awareness about the fight for undocumented immigrants’ rights and defending people against Trump policies.

Torrell emphasized the need for solidarity to address the challenges youth face, and the need to stay informed, and push to create more safe spaces. Remidy Shareef emphasized the urgent need to support the youth, community involvement in nurturing young people and organizing entire families to address the daily struggles they face.

Keynote speaker Aaron Booe shared their experiences with labor organizing, youth alliances, and social justice movements. A recent graduate of Howard University, they highlighted the work they’re doing in Washington, D.C. with the Communist Party USA.

“At this moment, Black youth leadership is critical,” they said. “The MAGA movement is working to undo the hard-won victories of past generations from civil rights to labor rights. They seek to send us to the back of the bus, back to the closets, and back to the shadows. But we are not going back!” they declared to prolonged applause.

Booe discussed how Black youth are continuing the freedom fights of previous leaders like Frederick Douglass during Reconstruction, and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who drew inspiration from the Reconstruction era for his civil rights leadership.

They stressed the importance of using strategies from both eras in today’s freedom struggle. “Douglass understood that victory requires unity and that movements succeed by uniting all the forces that can be united to defeat the immediate enemy. This lesson remains just as relevant today.”

“At the heart of this struggle was the unity of young people,” they said. “Black, white youth through organizations like Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which led voter registrations and organized sit-ins and militant direct actions. All of this contributed to Dr. King in the late 1960s understanding that the fight for civil rights was inseparable to the fight for labor rights.”

Booe noted how Black youth must continue to organize in this next phase of the struggle, whether through boycotts or campus sit-ins. “We must build the broadest people’s united front ever. It will take unity and resistance to create a better future and world.”

“Today’s movement, today’s freedom struggle, Resistance 2.0 must defeat the second confederacy, the unholy alliance of white supremist and corporate oligarchs who seek to transform our country into a far-right billionaire dictatorship,” said Booe.

To conclude the celebration, acclaimed African percussionist Brian Jarawa Gray led a drum circle, engaging the crowd in a rhythmic finale.

Students inspire at “Black Youth Leadership – Resistance 2.0 in Today’s Freedom Struggle” event

“Black Youth Leadership – Resistance 2.0 in Today’s Freedom Struggle” was the theme of this year’s annual People’s World Black History Month Arts and Writing Competition, Grades 8 to 12.

The prompt quoted Civil Rights activist Ella Baker’s statement, “We who believe in freedom will not rest until it’s won.” Students were asked to express in artwork, essay, poetry, rap, or song:

• What can you do, along with others in your school, to promote equality?
• What can you do, along with your friends, to reject, and educate against, hate speech?
• Reflect on historical figures in the freedom struggle and victories that were won. How can you help continue the fight and work to change your community now?

Journey Rosa, grade 9, Sound School, won first place for her poem “The Color Line.”

 

The Color Line

by Journey Rosa

“What happens when your skin is a question
That no one wants to answer?
When the world looks at you and demands,
Choose.
Choose who you are,
Choose what side of the line you stand on,
Choose where your loyalty lies—
As if I could split myself down the middle
And still be whole.

I am mixed.
My skin is a canvas of histories colliding,
Of worlds that weren’t meant to meet but did.
I am the child of two truths
That society calls a lie.
Too dark for one,
Too light for the other—
Forever straddling a line I never drew.

But I’m not alone.
There are others like me,
Others whose existence defies division.
Together, we choose to stand—not apart,
But as one.
We reject the lines they draw to divide us.
In our schools, we build bridges,
Speaking truths that challenge ignorance,
Creating spaces where no voice goes unheard.

With my friends, we fight hate speech with knowledge.
We teach that words can heal as much as they can harm.
We celebrate every story, every shade,
Because no one is less for being different.
In classrooms, we stand tall,
Calling out injustice when we see it,
Reminding everyone:
An injury to one is an injury to all.

We carry the torch lit by those before us.
Ella Baker, who believed in freedom’s urgency.
James Chaney, Andrew Goodman—
Young lives lost for a vision of equality.
They fought for a future where color was not a cage,
And now we fight to protect that dream.

We honor their victories,
From the sit-ins that desegregated lunch counters
To the marches that demanded the right to vote.
Their courage teaches us
That every step forward is a step worth taking,
That silence is not an option.

So here’s what I pledge:
I will not stand by when hatred is spoken.
I will speak up when bigotry tries to hide.
I will work with others to create a community
Where every face, every name,
Is met with respect, not judgment.

In my school, we will organize.
Clubs that celebrate diversity,
Events that open eyes and hearts.
We will remind each other that our strength
Lies in the bonds we build,
In the walls we tear down.

This fight is far from over.
The line still runs deep—
Across oceans, across borders, across generations.
But together, we will break it.
Not with hate, but with love.
Not with silence, but with voices raised in harmony.

So I ask you this:
When you see us,
When you see me,
What will you do?
Will you join us in this fight?
Will you take the pledge to stand in solidarity?

Because the line ends with us.
With those who refuse to let history repeat itself.
With those who believe that freedom
Belongs to everyone, not just a few.

We who believe in freedom will not rest,
Until every hand is held,
Every voice is heard,
And the line is gone.”

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