Our Values

Political Education

AYPAL believes that education is a right, that having access to quality education that is age and culturally relevant, is essential to the fight for our liberation. Given the lack of this kind of education within our public schools, until conditions change, AYPAL youth and staff continue to generate peer led workshops using popular education* models offered twice a week after school free to anyone who attends. These workshops are often how youth get involved in AYPAL as community leaders.     

*Popular education is education as a practice (or praxis) of freedom. It is an approach to education where participants engage each other and the educator as co-learners to critically reflect on the issues in their community and then take action to change them.
 

Leadership Development

Youth are the hopeful, creative, and courageous leaders that we need to follow in order to transform society. AYPAL youth holds space for youth to practice and grow their leadership in partnership with adult allies through culturally relevant skills building, collective decision making, and prioritizing youth voice both internally and externally. Youth engage in civic life at the school, city, state, and often national level through our work as an essential part of their leadership development experience in AYPAL. Our leadership pipeline of youth member, youth intern, and youth campaign organizer provides appropriate avenues for leadership development through structured and youth centered activities and experiences.

Arts Activism

Cultural Arts Activism is power building. The more our youth know about our communities roots, traditions, and histories, the more powerful they become. AYPAL youth put on two community art events a year in collaboration with local artists of color. In the winter, the FOB: Fresh Off the Block Youth Art Show showcases the voice and narrative of API youth in Oakland through visual arts, videography, and fashion. In the spring during API Heritage Month, the AYPAL May Arts Festival brings community together in public spaces threatened by gentrification and displacement around traditional cultural dances, guerilla theatre, spoken word, and murals. Each event integrates AYPAL’s political campaign work while uplifting youth voice through art and culture.
 

Collaborative and Coalition Building

AYPAL collaborates with many organizations and public agencies to broaden our impact in affecting systemic change. On education issues, AYPAL collaborates with the Oakland Unified School District’s Meaningful Student Engagement Program and the Family, Schools and Community Partnerships unit. Additionally, AYPAL is engaged in statewide Campaign for Quality Education coalition, serving on the Core Coordinating Committee and the Grassroots Subcommittee.
 

Community Organizing

AYPAL’s community organizing strategy involves building positive and inclusive membership organizations where members feel valued and see themselves as agents of change. At these membership meetings, participants cultivate strong partnerships with staff and their peers through team building activities, issue-based workshops, and community socials. This participation leads to member engagement in AYPAL’s grassroots campaigns, which aim to achieve positive social change in Oakland public schools and neighborhoods.