For our final action project in Policy, HM, GL, DC, GF, JP and I worked together to prevent gun violence in Chicago through a youth-led organization called Project Orange Tree that affiliates itself closely with Lupe Fiasco’s foundation. Project Orange Tree is a campaign that wants to teach youth about gun violence and the roots of structural violence that perpetuate it. We got out on the streets and passed out buttons and flyers in neighborhoods around Chicago to help build awareness. In the end, we created a video with interviews that we conducted, footage of us around Chicago, a poem we wrote about gun violence, and other violence prevention efforts such as Cure Violence and the Chicago Police Department.
This project really opened my eyes to the problems that youth in Chicago face every day. This experience was really transformative for me and through all of the actions that we took, I was exposed to many stories of pain and suffering. This is a problem that needs to be solved to keep kids alive and stop putting families and children through this. Below is a video we made. Enjoy!
POLICY PROJECT AS ACTION: Project Orange Tree from GF on Vimeo.