We Make the Future: A Legacy of Youth Power
From historic uprisings to the $10Mil4Real campaign, youth organizers at Project South continue a legacy of transformative change.
By: Nautica Jenkins. Project South’s Youth Programs Multimedia Coordinator, December 2025
“We have to work as a whole and remember the needs of others because we are family and in the end we all have the same goals.”
—Savon Jenkins,17, YCAP Alumni
Across generations, young people have sparked some of the most significant political shifts. At Project South, we understand that youth-led movements are not only central to our work, they have consistently proven essential in shaping the future we strive to create.
From the Civil Rights sit-ins to the Soweto Uprising to today’s global climate strikes, young people have always been at the heart of transformative change.
They bring bold ideas, fresh energy, and the courage to push for what many consider impossible. Their actions do more than win policy fights; they shift culture, inspire movements around the world, and cultivate the leaders of tomorrow. The legacy is clear: when young people raise their voices, the world listens.
During a Youth Movement Assembly at Project South in 2014, young people from multiple communities gathered to identify the most urgent issues they were facing. This took place in the wake of Michael Brown’s murder and with communities still grieving the killing of Trayvon Martin.
They found common ground: police brutality. Together, they committed to confronting policing on school campuses and challenging the disproportionate funding directed toward over-policing students instead of supporting them.
In Atlanta, our Youth Community Action Program (YCAP) expanded on the National Student Bill of Rights framework to launch the $10Mil4Real campaign. The campaign demanded that Atlanta Public Schools reinvest the $10 million allocated for school policing (Student Resource Officers/SROs) into resources identified by young people including updated textbooks, counseling services, and child care for all students and young parents.
The National Student Bill of Rights (NSBR), founded at the Free Minds, Free People conference in Houston in 2009, brought together youth ages 13–25 from across the country to collectively envision local and national education bills. NSBR laid the foundation for youth-led campaigns nationwide, including the work in Atlanta.
YCAP organizers conducted deep research into the roles and responsibilities of SROs and examined how the annual APS budget was allocated. They surveyed local youth about what resources they needed and how they experienced SROs on their campuses. They attended school board meetings, met with APS administrators and local high school principals, and presented the needs and concerns of young people across the district.
Throughout 2015 they pushed the campaign forward and caught the attention of APS Superintendent Dr. Meria Carstarphen. While the campaign did not secure every demand, APS did end its contract with the Atlanta Police Department which was an important shift driven by youth leadership.
Project South remains committed to providing the space, resources, and allyship necessary for youth-led and youth-informed movements to thrive.
