G.A.ME Youth Leadership Retreat -Winter '09

February 3, 2009 Summary

Friday January 30-Sunday February 1, 2009, Grassroots Artists MovEment (G.A.ME) conducted its second youth leadership retreat for the Winter of 2009. Four chaperons and eight students ranging from 15-18 years of age retreated to the forestry area of Beallsville, MD and ventured to Washington, D.C. on Saturday January 31, 2009.

Students visited National Museum of the American Indian and the Anacostia Community Museum of African American History and Culture and shopped in Washington, D.C. Participants also went to the Washington Monument, the Abraham Lincoln Memorial, the WWII Memorial, and the White House. During that evening we also ate at the famous Ben’s Chili Bowl.

Our group had the pleasure of learning African Internationalism from African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) member Chioma Oruh, Hip-Hop and community programming from Words, Beats and Life’s Mazi Mustafa, Cory Stowers, and Jason Nichols, and community organization building with Kaajal Shah of Fair Chance. G.A.ME organizers Omowale Adewale, Terry Nakamura, and Francis Peña presented on President Obama’s first 10 days, effective communication for life, and the U.S. political process.

In our weekend living quarters, our group of 12 was divided along gender lines into two houses. In the countryside of Beallsville, where residents feel safe enough to leave doors unlock, students gave us high marks for safety and security for our chosen area.

Students sat and read in the library, talked amongst new and familiar friends, braided hair, hiked, composted, relaxed to music and the grand piano, and played two-hand touch football on 28 acres of land. In following with the religious orders of the housing organization Am Kolel Sanctuary and Renewal Center, we cooked non-meat vegetarian meals prepared by chaperons and students. During breakfast, lunch and dinner, we communed in the dining room.