Revolutionary Oak Park Youth Action League

This presentation will describe an internship experience at Revolutionary Oak Park Youth Action League (ROYAL). The mission of this organization is to center and uplift the voices of Black and Latinx youth who are often overlooked and invalidated. Furthermore, ROYAL is an abolitionist organization that supports the defunding of police in order to support other community resources such as mental health facilities, community centers and affordable child-care. As an intern, the mission is to provide further support to the youth by providing safe spaces for healing and reflection. Moreover, interns also aim to provide academic, social and emotional support in an accessible way to the youth. Interns are granted a lot of freedom to use their personal skills and knowledge in order to support the youth of ROYAL in various ways. Furthermore, interns are responsible to continue their self-education in abolition and other social justice work. ROYAL youth are strong advocates in the Oak Park community and come together to organize community healing spaces, host outdoor rallies and marches, creates petitions that advocate for students of color, and uses their social media platforms to further support BIPOC communities. The youth participate in weekly meetings and are creating their own podcast.https://via.library.depaul.edu/psychologynight/1203/thumbnail.jp