DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.
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DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Social forces have had great influence on the lives of youth in Boston. They affect them in school, in their communities, and as a person at whole. These forces have caused youth to react in many ways that they felt expressed themselves. Youth retaliated by protesting, forming groups and organizations so that there voices could be heard, and fought for what they thought they deserved as an equal voice. People today should see what youth went and goes through, and take with them the understanding that youth too should be heard and acknowledged as an equal to anyone else.

Lowell was a factory village back in the 1830’s, where young women went to become independent, earn wages, and gain economic and cultural opportunities. Help was needed in the factories so women went ahead to work at the factories. These women were of various ages; they were between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five. Their job description was “doffers.” But then these Lowell Mills girls were affected by the economy and science and technology. They then responded to this crisis by striking and protesting.

            The economy affected these girls because their wages were beginning to be cut, because companies were in competition. Also when the machines began to speed up, the girls decided to strike, because this meant that they had to do more work, and this became more difficult. This was all caused by the Industrial Revolution.

 The Industrial Revolution was when old methods of producing and transporting goods underwent basic and far-reaching changes. This process transformed the ways men and women worked as well as what they wore, what they ate, and where they lived. These changes also affected how northerners thought about themselves and other citizens. Finally this transformation redefined the central issues that shaped nineteenth-century American politics (Who built America 222). Cultural values was a social force portrayed in this era because the people were forced to change who they were and what they did, to please other people higher than them.

The science and technology affected them because they had to work harder, because of the increase of speed in the machines, and their working hours increased and became unreasonable. The point of the high wages in the first place was to end the prejudice against the girls. Also their housing situation worsened and got more expensive due to these forces and conditions.

            In response to these conditions the girls strike and conducted protests by speaking out for the first time for their rights. The first strike did not exactly work but gave way to the beginning and support of other successful strikes in the future. Workers also struck against their bosses and were sent to court. Yet they still refused to follow the consequences, but their struggles came to head. There were multiple strikes, and they all came together as one to fight for their rights.

            The Mill girls produced a labor movement that sought social justice and economic security.  The Lowell female reform association affected them because they fought against their masters being their bosses, and they ended up going to court. But soon they achieved their masters becoming their bosses, and forced the court to acknowledge the legitimacy of the trade unions. The first law was also passed to limit child labor, which was very important.

            So as you can see Mill girls went through many experiences that impacted their lives at the factory. But they found many ways to overcome and respond to these experiences and conditions. I think that it was very brave and courageous for women to attempt what they did back then. That is why they are now recognized for what they weren’t back then. It is an inspiration.

            The time period of the 1970s was a difficult time for blacks. This is when they had to fight for their equal rights, such as education. Black students and families had to fight for the opportunity of an equal education. They went through many trials and tribulations both impacting them culturally and educationally.

            Boston Bussing affected BPS students in 1975, because Judge Garrity passed a new law for students to be bussed from schools out of their neighborhoods. Some blacks were being sent to white schools, and some whites were being sent to black schools. The reason for this was that schools in black neighborhoods were not being given the same funding as white schools, and therefore blacks did not have the right resources they needed to get a proper education. For example the Cassandra Twymon a black student was transferred to Charlestown high because the school that she was attending did not provide the resources she needed to learn. At Charlestown High she was mistreated by being called names, and having insulting drawings drawn on her books and desk by white student. There were boycotts and protest about them attending the school because the white students did not welcome them. There culture was not accepted the white students because they were deemed different. Blacks were beaten and jumped in schools and were still separated in classes.

            T he courageous actions of the blacks responding to these problems was absolutely miraculous and life altering. It increased the credibility of their cultural values because they stood up and voiced their opinion for their rights and they believed they deserved. They did this by forming an organization that allowed them to voice themselves, by listing the issues that affected them within the schools, and present it to their principal. Cassandra Twymon was elected to represent the group and speak on their behalf. When these demands such as assurance of their safety, were not met, drastic measures were taken to make their voices heard. They arranged a boycott in which the plan to stage a sit in on the bus that carried them to the school. When they got to the school they refused to get off the bus. In doing this they were stating that their demands were to be taken into consideration and be met or they would rebel.

            After this occurred they were publicly addressed about there issues. Cassandra Twymon’s family was upset with her, but yet understood the reason of her actions. An incident occurred in school where Cassandra skipped one of her classes because she was not comfortable in it, and got the feeling that she was an outcast from the teacher. She was suspended because of this. When her mother addressed this issue and demanded that the suspension be revoked, she was denied. Parents fought for the rights of their children, as did organization leaders, black representatives, and the children themselves.

            So as you can see Boston Public School students went through a lot of life altering ordeals that impacted them and their lives in many ways good and bad ways during the 1970s. Good as in being able to stand up for themselves and form a path for future blacks to get a substantial and beneficial education. Bad as in being deprived of their culture by being put down, segregated, and excluded from society in many different ways, like the Jim Crow Laws, and Brown vs. the Board of Education. They truly show us now that education is very important and shouldn’t be taken for granted.

            The Dudley street neighborhood initiative was located in the heart of Dudley. The purpose of this organization was to help architects remodel the bad parts of Dudley. In Dudley there were lots of abandoned land, houses of poor conditions, and it was regarded as one of the poorest communities.  During the 1980s and 1990s, DSNI helped bring improvement along with city council. During this time period, Boston’s neighborhood, Dudley, was undergoing problems with living conditions. The city was becoming the neighborhood dump as it moved towards becoming a “culture of poverty”. People of the city soon saw that the government involvement was absent. As a community they worked towards rebuilding their city by taking activist roles and responsibilities and working towards rebuilding buildings in vacant lots. It did this by bringing in stores, houses, which brought in money to help Dudley regain its strength. Youth acted in response to this crisis in their neighborhoods and surrounded neighborhoods of Dudley Square by getting more involved in making their community safer.

            In all three of these cases, all of the problems that were happening affected and changed the lives of many people. Although these problems were all handled differently, they all incorporated the same leadership qualities. Since everyone came together and became activists, these cases were able to be overcame, and this made Boston a stronger city, that provides better living conditions and lifestyles for today’s generation.

            Economy is one of the largest social forces that have affected the people of Boston. This has been recognized in all three case studies. It affected workers in industries such as the Lowell Mills, and it played a large role in Boston bussing because of funding for schools.

Youth Activism

            For the past years youth organizing has developed, with young people mostly leading with the support of paid staff and adults. But it was not always like this. There were many obstacles and milestones to overcome. During the 1960’s youth participated in organizations towards larger issues such as against segregation and integration.  For example four years before Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 March, civil rights leader Baynard Rustin led a youth march for integrated schools in the Washington. After this had happen, teenage college students started the first successful challenges towards lunch segregation. And also in 1963,one thousand children as six years old emptied the sixteenth street Baptist church in Birmingham Alabama, singing freedom songs as they were blasted with fire hoses and attacked by police dogs. Hundreds of them spent the night in Bull Connor’s jail. These organizations were both good and bad because it was great that teens and youth could participate in such important issues. Even little kids were able to participate and express them selves, and take risks, but the downside to this was that along with being able to participate in grown activities came grown consequences such as being hosed down, attacked by dogs, and being put in jail.  There were organizations such as the Black Panthers, Young Lords, and Brown Berets that represented the faces of the youth.  A very important event happened in which youth protested and that led Congress to extend the franchise to 18-to-20 year olds in 1971, so that they would acknowledge that if youth were young enough to be drafted they could be able to vote.

The government responded to the youth negatively because they viewed the youth in a negative perspective. From this perspective youth became low, as I having a belittling effect or force and having no power. They were looked down upon and seen as a problem. This is because the government thought and projected the image of the youth not being able to take care of themselves and not have control over personal matters then how could they possibly lead organizations and make change. But it was not their faults; it was simply the “culture of poverty” that they had no control of.

Instead of recreation centers helping the youth and assisting in making them better they shut them out. But moms and youth found ways to project this injustice into political speeches and evening news sound bytes. It was not until now that youth began to have an identity, and a political identity at that. Youth organizing has arisen in multiple ways in response to the eras of Reagan, Bush, and Clinton, because of the federal government itself did not encourage young people to become politically engaged in their communities. Today the shift in the political environment did not get rid of the voices of youth who disagreed or opposed their decision of not having youth involved.  This is where organizations were developed by youth. By the mid-1990’s, urban areas witnessed the birth of non-profit organizations or programs dedicated to expanding organizing and activism among youth.

            Youth deal with multiple issues. Three main issues are public education, criminal justice, and environmental justice. These issues also have sub-issues that fall under them. These issues that the youth deal with revolve around communities and not just individuals. Some of the most popular issues that organizations are focused on are: analyzing issues such as police conduct and juvenile justice, addressed homophobia and the rights of queer youth taking up issues within public education and criminal justice and other areas. Immigrant rights and racial justice organizations work in almost every issue area, which makes it one of the most popular issues since it, ties into all of the main issues.

In public education youth and adults were involved together. One of the things that they dealt with was getting illegal students to be able to pay for school. In criminal justice organizations such as Young Women’s Development created an organizing project to provide organizing and leadership training and cultural programs for young women in San Francisco’s juvenile detention centers. Instead of punishing youth they came up with rehabilitation programs that would actually help them. But youth-led organizing around criminal justice is not limited to incarceration issues alone. They are doing organizing that addresses violence against young women of color, including harassment. And a recently established organizing project for gay and lesbian youth has focused on police harassment of queer youth.

The objectives that organizations need for future success and to keep growing are sustainability, and long-term goals. In the long run although trying they may try to empower the youth, it doesn’t change the problems that youth face in their everyday personal lives.

Youth activism and organizing is important because it helps youth solve problems that are important to them and affect them. One example is bus fare to get from home to school and back. It takes a lot of money each day to travel to school just to get an education. If youth come together and form groups and organizations for their voices to be heard, they can find ways in which they could be supported with money to get to school. Youth organizing is also important because it is a great way to help the communities they live in. They can do this by seeing what is wrong and needs to be fixed and get others to acknowledge it and fight to change it.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.