TCHC 2013 Youth Summit

Toronto Youth Summit navigate life for Changed Future

By William Doyle-Marshall

More than 1,000 young adults who reside in Toronto Community Housing turned up last Sunday to experience some of their cultural icons and exhibit their enthusiasm. It was the 2013 youth summit organized by the Toronto Community Housing Corporation at the Sheraton Center, downtown Toronto. This was intended to be a vehicle to encourage these young people to develop positive ideas and desires to emulate some of their adored images. In a spoken word presentation during the opening part of the summit, titled “Society”, Naima acknowledged that Society is concerned only of the celebrity views and government views. But she questioned “what about the innocent ones getting glued to the fight they didn’t fuel. She reminded her peers that they live under sub-financial rules where expressing “our views is completely subdued because television tells us what to do.”

   Her supporters vigorously applauded as she recounted “we have our opinions but we choose not to express them. We oppress them. We keep our mouth shut, assuming if we keep our mouth shut, that will send a different message; as if families being annihilated and forced to leave; children being violated, wasn’t a good enough, yet we still choose to be naive. Please. You blind yourself and act like you don’t see. Covering up your blood then claiming you don’t bleed,” Criticizing society’s resolve that offers double standards, Naima marked “Little boys cursing intensively. Teenage girls getting beat domestically. Older boys acting out aggressively yet we still take advantage yet we still take a back seat to fidelity.” She questioned whether citizens haven’t done enough to prove loyalty by following the law systematically.

  The poet countered with a quip about sudden reality: “You and me here, we make up the society. He says ‘yes we can’. I say, we need a plan because things just don’t happen if we clap our hands. We need to be the first drop in the ocean and take a stand. By doing that we are creating the future plan.”

                                             Summit participants showing their appreciation

                                             Beyond Sound  Empijah African Drummers

   “If I Ruled T.O.” was the summit’s theme and members of the Planning Committee brought together various high profiled individuals involved with community safety, recreation, economic opportunities, leadership and personal development. Mawuli Chai, launched the day’s activities by reading what was called the creed of the theme. This is the statement: “I am brilliantly made, unique, the grandest version of myself. I stand in my truth. I dress, speak, eat and live well. Respecting myself, my community with actions of hope, love, compassion and honour. My new name is change. So ask me what I think if I rule Toronto.”

 Eugene Jones, President and CEO of Toronto Community Housing Corporation  hopes the youth would take home something from Sunday’s summit to fortify themselves with some others in their community to bond together and start doing things. Jones would be certainly ecstatic when these young people get back to TCHC, the politicians and business leaders with their specific needs.

Armed with their personal information Jones expects the young people would tell the power brokers specifically what their needs are. He expects them to say “we want you to listen to what we want,  and make that happen. If you call us priority neighbourhoods, well make us a priority. But we don’t want to be stereotyped as priority neighbourhoods because we just want to be like anyone else. We want to grow, we want jobs, we want to go to university.”

 Politicians encouraged the gathering of youth to seize the opportunity to become elected members of the political process – municipal, provincial and federal. In addition, author and producer Dwayne Morgan’s advice that changing habits was perhaps the most powerful message of the day. “If you hang out with people who celebrate when you fail, those are not your friends. If you hang out with people who know what you want to achieve and are standing in the way of what you want to achieve, those are not your friends. If you hang out with people who, every time you get dressed to go out, they are the first ones to point out what is wrong with you, those are not your friends,” he counseled.

   As Morgan urged the gathering to have a vision for their lives, he told them they must work towards making that vision real. In order for it to become your reality, they have to pay attention to who is on their team. This means they have to make sure they are surrounding themselves with the right people in their corner.

Farley Flex, veteran music producer, broadcaster and talent search hoped the congregation of youth would get answers to their career path. He considered the summit as an opportunity for young Torontonians to change their lives. He had a booth at the summit called “Take Back your world, navigate your life which is about taking your interest, your personality traits and skills set to lead to a path that is based on passion based on living for your work as opposed to working for a living.

 The Summit Planning Committee included Amani Ousman, Charles Lewis, Dion Isaacs, Domonique Morris, Hafsa Isse, Hayad Isse, Jamall Brown, Joel Taylor, Kenney Adietly, Ladan Kite, Mariama Barvd, Naima Hassan, Najma Hassan, Nuzhaat Sabreem, Shukri Dualeh and Sorie Thullah.