I haven’t had the opportunity yet to feature the work of the thousands of young people across the U.S. who are actively resisting the prison industrial complex by organizing to reform and/or abolish it. I am prompted to do so now.

On August 15th, a young man named Damian Turner was shot in the back during a drive by shooting on the Southside of Chicago. Many have characterized this tragedy as Damian “being at the wrong place at the wrong time.” And yet, dozens of young people in Chicago have met a similar fate in the past 3 years. I would say that they are not the ones at the wrong place at the wrong time but rather that the conditions that birth those who are doing the shooting are simply wrong. Damian should have been able to walk freely anywhere in this city without having to fear that it would mean his demise. However we know that many young people in Chicago and in other urban centers across the U.S. do not have the luxury of freely taking to the streets in their communities. The constant fear of meeting a bad end looms in their minds and hearts. This fear is not irrational, in fact it is perfectly understandable.

In the face of all of these difficulties though, young people like Damian, on a daily basis, engage in social justice organizing. They lead protests, they organize rallies, they run popular education workshops, they write music, they create art. They say “No justice, No peace” and they mean it. I am so lucky to be able to work with many of these young people and sometimes to serve as a mentor to them. It gives me immeasurable hope in the future. I hope that it does for you too. I want to make a pitch for an organization that I helped found called the Chicago Freedom School. CFS supports young people to develop their leadership skills and to gain an understanding of social movement history. Our hope is that this will serve as a strong foundation from which they can take action on issues that they care about. Several of the youth who have been affiliated with CFS are organizing against the prison industrial complex and many others are taking on immigration issues, LGBTQ issues, food justice, just to name a very few topics of concern. The arts play a big role at CFS in providing youth with space to express themselves. There are many other terrific organizations in Chicago that support youth to grow as organizers and activists.

Damian belonged to one such organization. Besides being an organizer, he was a poet and artist. Damian wrote a powerful song about the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (formerly known as the Audy Home). He lamented the human rights abuses that take place there. Please take 5 minutes out of your day to listen to his words and to celebrate his legacy with all of us who were lucky to cross his path.