Blog freewrite
“Leeeet’s, let’s stay together…loving you whetherrrr, whetherrr times are good or bad, happy or sad.”
My grandma and I vowed we would always stay together as Al Green emphasized. She would be cooking in the kitchen, making her famous peach cobbler for the family. Then the radio would sing “Smooth Jazz 96.7”. Soon after, “our song” would come on, “Let’s Stay Together.” We would dance and sing all throughout the kitchen until my stubborn sister would come in with an attitude. But her attitude didn’t stop our vibe. We danced for the whole two minutes and something seconds and even afterwards.
My grandmother is no longer with us. She has passed on. But every time that song comes on, I still dance and sing as if she was right there with me, telling me let’s stay together.
In 2006, over 25 youth began participating in weekly after-school writing workshops where they congregated in the hallway of a two-story building in West Fresno and learned the essentials of creating media and telling their stories. The group evolved over the next five years and is now proudly recognized as The kNOw Youth Media.
Through our program, we create opportunities for our youth participants, who in turn create long-term positive change in their communities. Our approach weaves youth development and youth media innovation to produce our biannual youth publication, multimedia projects, and community forums.
The kNOw began as a project of New America Media, which was the country’s first and largest national collaboration and advocate of 2000 ethnic news organizations. In 2018 The kNOw became a project of Youth Leadership Institute.
