Democracy Multiplied in an Urban Neighborhood: Youth Force in the South Bronx

Barry Checkoway
University of Michigan

Lisa Figueroa
Youth Force

Katie Richards-Schuster
University of Michigan

Citation: Checkoway, Barry, Lisa Figueroa, and Katie Richards-Schuster."Democracy Multiplied in an Urban Neighborhood: Youth Force in the South Bronx.” Children, Youth and Environments 13(2), 2003. Retrieved from http://colorado.edu/journals/cye.

Abstract

This paper describes Youth Force in New York's South Bronx as an example of young people creating community change. It describes their exceptional efforts to take initiative in one of the nation's most economically-disinvested areas, through creation of a Democracy Multiplied Zone and other efforts to “mobilize a youth-led movement for social change” and “enable young people to develop a united voice and coherent vision" for the future. It analyzes their origins, objectives, activities, accomplishments, facilitating and limiting factors, and lessons learned from experience.

Keywords: youth, community change, South Bronx, urban poverty, participation