The National Council of Elders Partners with Youth to Promote Southern Activists
The National Council of Elders hosts activist events throughout the country. (Picture taken from Facebook)
The National Council of Elders is a group of elders representing almost every significant U.S. social movement of the 20th Century. The organization consists of powerhouse social justice activists paving the way for history to be heard and voices to be represented. The organization is developing a podcast series to share stories and reflections based on their collective work for nearly a century of active engagement in nonviolent struggles for peace and justice.
The group of activists comprises several people around the U.S. wanting to make a difference. Alyzza May and Mara Lazer work alongside the elder leaders Aljosie Harding, Frances Reid, and Suzanne Pharr to produce the podcast highlighting interviewers and involving everyone featured in the process. In addition, the group has partnered with volunteers and paid producers to record high-quality interviews with the elders.
"This is the core of our work as the National Council of Elders," Reid said. "We call it co-mentoring, and we learn about technology and pressing interests of young people who can show us more than our eyes and our perspectives. We can push and [be] energized by the vision and the concerns of the young people we work with. And that makes us more responsible people and better workers because it makes us stay in the moment."
The social justice movement began with the organization promoting American South voices that have been silenced or not heard through the Oral History Project. The organization applied for a grant through Press On Media and Highlander to help fund the project. The focus of this grant was to highlight the activists from the South.
"We've been wanting to do oral history interviews since the beginning of the organization," Reid stated. "We know the benefit of hearing our movement's work history and hearing the personal stories. We took this opportunity to interview elders throughout the country who've done various work. We wanted to work with younger movement people who are activists and journalists who can do the interviews."
The National Council of Elders represent voices of the community who have made a difference in their communities. (Picture taken from Facebook)
"People have a lot of narrative myths of what the South represents, which is most backward and racist," May said. "But there's a genius of heart that also represents the South. So there's a section of people that need to be heard, from Native Americans to older adults. I wanted to craft the narratives that exist so everyone can hear their stories."
The elder and younger generations can learn a lot from one another, and it is one of the things that Harding wanted to promote among activists.
"We have just as much to learn as we have to teach," she said. "I have learned a lot from Alyzza and a lot of the other younger generations we've worked with on this project. So to me, it feels like a two-way street."
The organization needs help with funding for its upcoming project for the podcast. To share the organization's mission or help them with their mission, check out their Kickstarter page.