91¿ì»îÁÖ

Youth and Environmental Justice Events

The Initiative’s Youth for Justice Project, under the guidance of Jesica S. Fernández and a team of three undergraduate students—Ashley Orozco-Plata, Linda Soto and Milagros Cruz-Jimenez—collaborated with to deliver a series of arts-education workshops that supported the creation of a mural at on themes of environmental justice and community thriving. During these workshops, youth learned technical art skills, such as how to work with water colors, sketching, composition and collaging. With guidance from arts educators and local muralists Jessica Carmen and Augie WK—also known as —youth have explored the importance of utilizing art for social change, public advocacy and community empowerment.  The mural was celebrated at a May 19 community unveiling to showcase the art, as well as the stories, voices and lived experiences that inform the themes and visuals in the mural.

Jesica S. Fernández was interviewed by 91¿ì»îÁÖ Magazine for an article on what young people can teach adults about social change. Fernández describes her interest in creating places and opportunities – like her Youth for Justice Project – for young people to develop their voices, and to be heard and valued. The interview is part of a series about how 91¿ì»îÁÖ faculty members’ scholarship relates to Jesuit values of curiosity, reflection, and service to the common good. Speaking of her undergraduate research assistants, Fernández observes, “It’s been inspiring to see how motivated they are to make ethnic studies and environmental justice content accessible and engaging for younger students, especially since many of them didn’t have exposure to these topics when they were their age in school.”

Image Credit: Miguel Ozuna

The Youth for Justice Project (YJP), an afterschool program at in San José, partnered with , a non-profit organization fostering community development opportunities for artists and creatives, to lead a series of art workshops. Jesica S. Fernández, who oversees YJP and is a member of the Initiative, along with student researchers Ashley Orozco-Plata, Linda Soto, and Naomi Hernandez, facilitated this collaboration. The three art-making workshops supported youth in YJP in creating a mural-like art installation at their school that featured themes of environmental justice at the intersections of social change. With the guidance of local artist , and art-educators Jessica Carmen and Wednesday DeGuzman, youth created individual canvases featuring social and environmental justice issues they care about – from education to economic equity to diversity and racial justice. Each canvas helped form a unified youth-centered mural that was inspired by the , a mosaic-tiled mural featuring the artwork of 100 artists in San José. The canvases that were produced by YJP youth were brought together to create a mural that was installed in the hallway of Sacred Heart Nativity School. The mural installation captured youth voices – reflecting their hopes and dreams – along with their calls for social change in their living and learning environments. 

This panel brought together Bay Area environmental justice youth activists (Communities for a Better Environment), (HOPE Collaborative), (Climate Resilient Communities), and (Sunrise Movement), and , director of the documentary (2021). Organized and hosted by the Initiative’s Jesica S. Fernández, the event interspersed scenes from the documentary highlighting the story of Ashley Pavon, an agricultural worker and high school student in Watsonville, CA., with the panelists’ reflections on their journeys into environmental justice activism. These testimonies invited the audience to reflect on the complexities of coming of age in a time of climate change, environmental injustices, and economic inequities that intersect with race, gender, age, and immigrant status, and to imagine possibilities for solidarity in action, organizing and radical hope for liberatory and decolonial change. The event was organized by the Initiative and co-sponsored by multiple departments and offices in the College of Arts & Sciences, School of Engineering, Leavey School of Business, and the Office for Multicultural Learning. provided generous support and technical resources.