SHOUT!

 A virtual one-stop shop for youth to explore all things activism.

There are a lot of problems in the world, and a lot of people capable of solving them. But activism can be daunting, and youth especially often don’t know where to start or don’t think they can make a difference. It can be overwhelming to try to find out information about a topic, unsure where to look, unsure how to find the whole picture, and having to go to countless different sites to find out about a topic they want to fight for. They may also want to attend protests or events to show support for what they believe in but don’t know when or where they are happening. They may even want to connect with a group of like-minded peers to have meaningful conversations about their area of interest but have no clue where to turn. I encountered this problem when I was first starting my activism journey and it made me nearly want to give up. I spent countless hours going to different websites that only had part of the answers I wanted. This was during the peak of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Other black students at my school and I were tasked with leading diversity discussions and finding solutions, whether or not we knew a lot about what was happening in the country and whether or not we had the time or energy to do our own research and find out what could be done ourselves. 

My solution is a website database that will contain resources and relevant updated information on a particular topic the participant is interested in, an elibrary containing books and media related to the topic, a calendar complete with local protests and events users can attend to support the topic they are interested in, and a page to chat with other users to generate discussion over a topic, pose questions, etc. We will also have a page dedicated to activist burnout to inform people of what it is and offer tips for how to avoid it so they can be activists without draining themselves. The website will be set up through wix.com and will include a feedback option so we can get input from our users on how we can better support them. 

My solution will directly impact youth who are unhappy with social injustices such as police brutality and the gender pay gap happening in our country, and/or upset with the lack of action against climate change. These youth want to see change in their communities and know that they want to help. SHOUT! will be a resource and database for these individuals to learn more about the topics that they are interested in, and find ways that they can get involved. It takes a huge stress out of activism by doing the background work for them and leaves their energy for tangible actions so they are less likely to experience burnout. SHOUT! will also boost their connection to others interested in the same issues by fostering conversations and healthy debates surrounding the topic. 

As a young activist myself, I remember how navigating the activism world on my own was daunting and very stressful, and how I was nearly discouraged from even trying to make a difference in the world. A tool like SHOUT! would have not only saved me hours of time going from website to website, it also would have given me a space where I could connect with others who had the same concerns I did. My team is comprised of youth activists like myself who have experience dealing with and passion for one or more of our three initial topics. The “Climate Change” SHOUT! Team for example consists of myself- who has created and implemented a climate change awareness course for five schools, someone who created an educational coloring book and workshops teaching about ocean pollution, and other youth activists passionate about climate change. Our “African Americans” Team consists of black activists and allies who found their activists' roots in the BLM movement. Another member of this volunteer team and I had put together several informational Zoom workshops teaching members of our school district about being a good black ally, black history, BLM, and more. Our “Women” Team consists of female activists who have worked on campaigns for women’s reproductive freedom, equality, and more. We have a skilled youth Media Manager who has worked on several media campaigns for her own and other organizations including SHOUT! Essentially SHOUT! is made for youth by youth. 

Part of the “Climate Change” branch of SHOUT! is “Educate for the Earth”, an initiative I started a few years ago to teach students at 5 local schools about climate change and what they could do to help. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Through adopting this education model for our other topics, users will be able to learn about the topic they are interested in at their own pace, and easily accessible through our website. SHOUT! is still in its planning and initial setup stages so we have been working with mentors to address potential concerns and make our website the best it can be. Once up and running, SHOUT! will include a feedback page and a place for people to leave comments so we can establish what is working and what we can improve on.

Currently there are activist organizations that encourage youth help but only deal with one specific world issue each. This limits young activists. They may care about more than one problem happening in the world and be spread too thin trying to go through each different organization and having to go somewhere else completely to gain background information. With SHOUT! everything will be in one place that is easy to access. We will even be able to build upon the work that these other organizations do through partnerships and resharing their resources with their credit, we can build a database that empowers community organizations as well as their activists.

I hope to launch my website within the year. Currently, we are working towards this goal by researching and compiling information about each topic into our database. Our tech volunteer has been designing the website so that it is ready to operate as soon as we have all our information compiled. I am also working with mentors to examine potential issues we may expect to run into and troubleshoot. 

Wix.com is at the center of our initiative, allowing us to build a fully functioning website at no cost. As we gain more experience, time, and money we may switch to another platform but at the moment Wix meets all our needs. Additionally, Google, Google Scholar, and the educational content provided by each volunteer’s University courses provide us with the information we need to build our educational database. We will also record and showcase educational videos to teach users about the topic if they prefer that format. 

Currently, we have not launched, so the current number is 0. However, we hope to reach 20-50 young activists by the end of the year. 

Once up and running, SHOUT! will require less of a time commitment for the volunteer team than it currently does for the set up. Since our volunteer team is entirely youth and most of us are college students, we do not have a copious amount of free time to devote to doing the research necessary to build our platform. Due to that, it is possible that it could take longer than we would like to get up and running, but once it is, it should be able to run on its own, with updates done every month or so. 

We are not currently partnered with any organizations but we plan to seek out partnerships after the launch.  

SHOUT! is able to function completely without money, however through campaigns, grants, and scholarships, we can raise funds to put towards community events that we will host, build a more professional website with its own domain name, pay for more advanced marketing, and support other’s campaigns. We will use Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter, and LinkedIn to reach young activists and gain traffic for our website as well as articles, partnerships, and more. 

We are able to build our own website on Wix for free, we can advertise on social media for free, and our team is volunteer-based. This way, we don’t have to worry about lack of money getting in the way of the functions of SHOUT! Any revenue we receive will be put towards enhancing SHOUT! Whether that is towards hosting our own events or even booking ads in front of YouTube videos or other advanced marketing tactics. Money will be used to boost SHOUT! not sustain it, which will allow us to remain stable, and bring resources to youth activists in a sustainable method.