On September16, 2010, the U.S. Department of Education held a listening session entitled the National Youth Listening Tour at Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque,NM.

On September16, 2010, the U.S. Department of Education held a listening session entitled the National Youth Listening Tour at Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque,NM. Read more...

As the awards ceremony approaches, Youth Radio is profiling each of the six 2010 Brower Youth Award winners.  The Brower Youth Awards go to six outstanding environmental activists between the ages of 13 and 22.  The awards ceremony takes place in October in San Francisco. 

Only 18 years old and in his first year of college, Ziggy (short for Nkululeko Zigizendoda Yeni) has already made a name for himself in the realm of global politics and activism.  He is taking a day off of school at Yale to speak today on a panel at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City, addressing the issue of youth unemployment in Africa.  

The Clinton Global Initiative was founded by President Clinton in 2005, as a way to connect global leaders, organizations, entrepreneurs, and individuals for the purpose of brainstorming solutions to global problems.  At CGI, groups are encouraged to form partnerships and make Commitments to Action. The following year, they report back on the progress they've made. 

When Ziggy was asked to participate in CGI, he didn’t know much about it either. The folks at CGI actually discovered Ziggy on Youtube, in a video clip showing him introduce Archbishop Desmond Tutu at an event at his school, the African Leadership Academy.  See the video below.

The 11th Annual Brower Youth Awards ceremony takes place in October, and will honor six monumental environmental activists... who are all under the age of 22.


The New Leaders initiative (NLI) has organized the Brower Awards since 2000, in the name of David Brower, environmentalist, community activist, and founder of Earth Island Institute. According to the website, the winners of the Brower Youth Awards will receive a $3,000 cash prize, a trip to California for the award ceremony and wilderness camping trip, and ongoing access to resources and opportunities to further their work at Earth Island Institute.

“This is one of the most diverse groups of winners we’ve ever had,” said Desai. “Their geographic locations include Puerto Rico, Alaska, the Midwestern, and Southern regions of the United States. Their racial and cultural make-up is very diverse as well. Also, their issues and approach are very unique. This is definitely the most eclectic group,” she said.
The Awards ceremony will be on October 19, 2010 at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. “The best thing about the Awards Ceremony is that it is open to the public and free,” said Desai. “Over 900 people attend. This year the emcee is George Watsky, who was Robert Redford’s first green poet.”

This is video 1 of a series of 4 that makes up a video journal. The KUNM Youth Radio Project attended the 2010 US Social Forum in Detroit, MI, June2010, by way of the People's Freedom Caravan (PFC), organized by The SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP), Southwest Workers Union (SWU) and Southern Echo. The PFC stopped in various communities along the way to the 2010 USSF, where the Caravan Freedom Riders stood in solidarity with the activists and grass roots organizers. 

Victor Torres of the KUNM Youth Radio Project talks with Marisol Enyart, the Development Coordinator, of the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) on April 24^th, 2010.

By: Danya Mustafa
Lately, I’ve seen a scary change in American politics, particularly in Arizona. The fill in Governor Jan Brewer, a republican from Arizona, has been implementing in my opinion racially implemented laws towards the Chicano/Latino community. Recently, she signed the bill SB1070 which states that a police officer will be allowed to ask any suspected “illegal immigrant” for their proof of citizenship. My question is this, how can you spot an alleged “illegal immigrant”? By the color of one’s skin? Governor Jan Brewer denies that it will lead to racial profiling, but by letting the law enforcement take on this task, it’s bound to be racial profiling like no one has ever seen before.
According to a community survey taken by the Census Bureau in 2008, the number of Latinos in Arizona is estimated to about 29.6% of the state’s population, meaning that an estimate of 1.9 million people in the state of Arizona can be subjected to racial profiling at any given time.