By Joe Jarosz
Northeast News
December 2, 2015

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI — Young adults may sometimes feel as if their opinion on issues plaguing today’s society don’t count because they don’t have life experience to comment on them.

But give them a chance to speak, and they will tell you what they’re feeling about police brutality, women’s rights and any other issue society faces and how they plan to lift up hope.

Recently, area youth were given that chance, to express how they feel about current societal issues and on Dec. 4 and 6, you can see what they think about the world around them. Over 200 area youth created art illustrating their concerns in posters to accompany the nationally touring exhibit All of Us or None: Humanize Not Militarize. A grand opening exhibit will coincide with performances and refreshments from 6:30 – 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, at Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts, 4747 Flora Ave. A second opening will be held from 2 – 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, at the North-East Library, 6000 Wilson Road. Eight pieces from the national exhibit, along with roughly 40 produced by area youth, will be on display at the North-East Library.

Ira Harritt, American Friends Service Committee’s [AFSC] program coordinator in Kansas City, said they partnered with 12 area schools and youth program sites — including Youth Volunteer Corps of Greater Kansas City, Youth City Network, and Kansas City Youth Ambassadors — to engage area youth in using poster art to speak out about issues of concern to them. The posters by area youth and work from the All Of Us Or None exhibit by professional artists responding to militarism, injustice and hope will be displayed at five locations in the city and will be on display from Dec. 1 — 18. Along with Harritt said AFSC has been doing some variation of this program for the past five years. For the last two years, to help area youth express themselves, they made short films focusing on how youth can change.

“We use different kinds of arts to help them communicate different things that are important to them and impact their community and lives,” Harritt said. “This is the first time we’re using the poster art to help them project that message. We made the switch because of the national exhibit that became available to Kansas City.”

During the course of creating their pieces, Harritt said the youth involved were quite engaged, with some even maturing during the process.

“These kids got excited to see their ideas work their way out [to the poster],” Harritt said. “We try to create an atmosphere where everyone is in power and respected.”

In addition to Paseo Academy and North-East Library, the exhibit will be on display at the KCMO Plaza Library, 4801 Main St.; Southeast Library, 6242 Swope Parkway; and from noon – 6 p.m. at Cristo Rey High School, 211 W. Linwood Blvd. For a preview of the free exhibit, visit http://allofus.afsc.org/posters.