Young Ambassadors for Nonviolence South Africa Trip Details

The Young Ambassadors for Nonviolence Selection Process

The students were selected based on the following criteria to participate in the “Young Ambassadors for Nonviolence” delegation from the United States to South Africa.:

• The completion of the Kingian Nonviolence Certification Program at the MLK Center in Atlanta, GA in July 2010. Each student had to pass both written and verbal examinations on material taught to them over the course of a week to become certified.
• Students must be high school or college age.
• Students have to be either positive or negative leaders in their communities.
• Students had to complete registration and provide 2 letters of recommendation.
• Based on the above list a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 10 students were chosen per state to represent the U.S. nonviolence delegation to South Africa.

New Orleans Delegation Student Profiles:

All three of these youth are working with AFSC as Nonviolence Leaders that train middle school and high school students on MLK’s principles of nonviolence using poems, skits, songs, dancing and much more. They are currently working in SciTech Middle School and St. Rita School in New Orleans.

Domonique Triggs (Male, 17)

1.      Attends New Orleans Charter Science and Math High School and has a 3.5 GPA.

2.      Wants to go to college to study biology pre-med and become an anesthesiologist.

3.      At school he is the manager of the robotics team and is the treasurer of the school’s student government.

4.      He is a member of The New Orleans Overcomers- a group of high school aged community organizers that formed after Hurricane Katrina. He has been a youth organizer for 3 years.

5.      Wants to help other young men change their lives with nonviolence.

6.      He believes that, “My life of nonviolence started because my brother was a local drug dealer ever since he was 16 years old. When I was young the only thing that I wanted was to be just like my oldest brother. Now I promised myself that I would never turn to drugs or violence for anything. ”

Rose Gilliam (Female, 18)

1.      Recently graduated from New Orleans Charter Science and Math High School.

2.      Wants to be a pediatric surgeon. Will attend Delgado Community College and study biology in Spring 2011.

3.      Violence was the only relief she found before turning to nonviolence.

4.      She is a youth poet that has been a member of a spoken word group called “Creative Forces.” She enjoys singing and using her talents to tell her story.

5.      She is a member of The New Orleans Overcomers- a group of high school aged community organizers that formed after Hurricane Katrina.

6.      She believes that, “Nonviolence plays a major part in my life because before turning to nonviolence my life was headed down the wrong path.”

Briana O’Neal (Female, 20)

1.      She has just won “Youth Change Maker Award” from Operation REACH on Oct. 16, 2010.

2.      She is a member of FYRE Youth Squad and Young Adults Striving for Success (YASS).

3.      Delivers speeches about the inequities of life in New Orleans.

4.      She has been in trouble in the past for fighting and having a violent lifestyle.

5.      She believes that, “Living in the city of New Orleans, that rates number 3 in the highest number of murder rates, we must educate our peers about nonviolence. I hope that one day our city can reach its’ full potential  where every young person will have the chance to live past their eighteenth birthday, graduate from high school on time and where most of the jail cells will be empty of our youth and closed for good. “

Ahmane’ Glover (Female, 24) Group Organizer & Trip Chaperone

1.     She is a community activist with the American Friends Service Committee, a human rights non-profit, working with the youth peace building program.

2.     She graduated from Loyola University New Orleans with a B.A. in Communications. She received a community service and academic scholarship.

3.      She believes that, “after my cousin Marcus and my best friend’s brother Kevin were murdered senselessly, the fight for the lives of our youth became real to me. Nonviolence is a saving grace and it transforms lives.”

Our Fiscal Agent for this trip: JuneBug Productions

Junebug Productions, Inc. is the organizational successor to the Free Southern Theater, (FST), which was formed in 1963 to be a cultural arm of the Civil Rights Movement—“a theater for those who have no theater.” The FST was a major influence in the Black Theater Movement. Junebug Productions’ Artistic Director, John O’Neal, was a co-founder of the FST and a guiding force throughout the organization’s existence.

We appreciate the support of JuneBug Productions as our fiscal agent. Their support will help us journey to South Africa to gain more nonviolence training to be used in the New Orleans community.