Marin County is counted among the wealthiest in the country. Yet, despite its progressive values, the recent Race Counts report ranks the county as the third most racially disparate in the state of California. Almost every indicator — incarceration rates, health, education, housing, and economic opportunity — reveals a sharp divide among white people and communities of color. Within the county, several organizations are doing important anti-racist work, but few have formalized structures in which youth are able to design and lead the work they want to see carried out.
Marin Organizing for Racial Justice (MORE) is a bold program that seeks to bring youth of color and their allies together to implement and support social change efforts targeting racial justice. Each year, the program recruits a multi-racial cohort of students to craft racial equity initiatives for the county.
Each cohort launches the program year with retreats and trainings designed to foster safe spaces to explore race, racism, and how they shape racial identity in Marin. Based on this foundation of shared understanding, empathy, and allyship, youth will work together to examine how structural racism impacts housing, transportation, immigration, health, and education in Marin — and the ways in which current systems create barriers to success for youth of color. This work is designed to culminate in supporting existing community efforts from a youth perspective in addition to the selection of individual issues to tackle through the MORE-led design and implementation of a social change campaign.
Interested in joining?
All Marin County residents between the ages of 12-21 years are eligible — ethnically and culturally diverse youth are highly encouraged to apply. Program participants are expected to attend weekly meetings, trainings, workshops, and events. The aforementioned opportunities will help young people explore racial formation and the impacts of race and racism in the Marin community.
Now accepting new participants for the 2024-2025 cohort! For any questions and more information on how to join please contact Salem Boulware at [email protected].