Meet Calafia’s 2425 Fellows! Calafia is yliâs statewide youth policy journal that amplifies the narratives of young people on topics and issue areas important to them and their communities.
Before graduating high school, I believed that âmy vote doesnât matterâ and âwho cares about candidates.â Although I held several leadership positions in high school, I never looked outside my school bubble to invest my time and attention in local and federal elections. I did NOT care about politics.Â
Seven young women across California engaged in yli’s Calafia fellowship to produce a magazine centering on Intersectional Feminism. The stories, each written by the young writers, take on issues such as: Street harassment, gender norms, beauty and identity, queer issues, womenâs history in classrooms, women farmers, and more.
When I first started facilitating, I felt really impatient. Since I had not been in a high school setting in a long time, I had forgotten what it looked and felt like. I had also forgotten how shy young people can be, and how much time it takes for them to open up.
The effects of environmental and climate catastrophe are devastating communities on a global scale. Right here in the Central Valley we can feel our summers getting hotter, we taste our water becoming unsafe or scarce altogether, and we see our politicians continuing to collect major dollars from the fossil fuel industry.
I am a collage of cultures and experiences. I reflect on the lives of my abuelos and the ancestors that came before with gratitude for the life I love now.Â
Student loans have been reaching an all-time high, but student loan debt isnât the only financial problem weighing on people, especially in Merced, California. Here, Mercedians discuss how their experiences with loans shape their lives.
Being radical as an individual or an organization does not have an end point or a finish line. It is a constant process of change and reimagining what is possible.
