Justice Starts With Self-Awareness
January marked the start of our annual leadership program for 47 middle and high school students. They embarked on a year-long journey to becoming the leaders Milwaukee deserves. Our Kickoff Summit centered on our Five Foundations (Self-Awareness, Courage, Community, Kindness, and Joy) and brought together an incredible group of young people eager to dive into a year of transformative leadership. We specifically focused on self-awareness during Kindred Time through our brand-new “Foundations Journal.”
Each participant received their own journal, which they will use throughout the year to engage, reflect, and build their own self-awareness. During the journal activity at the summit, we discussed what it means to be self-aware and why self-awareness is important as a leader. One of the young people shared the following:
“It’s important to be more self-aware because when we know how our actions affect others, then we can stop things like racism and segregation.”
In just five short hours on that cold Saturday a 12-year-old envisioned the Milwaukee we all deserve. One that is free of racism, free of segregation, free of injustice. It is a Milwaukee that begins with self-awareness. In our age of technology and social media, which were designed to connect the world, many young people have learned to value their worth by how many likes or followers they have. Many young people are inducted into a culture where callous jokes are made across phone screens and taught to be indifferent in fear of being a social pariah. What is meant as a connection can disconnect us from each other.
However, in Project Kindred, our young people dream of a different world. One where words matter and everyone takes responsibility for their actions and impact. We are excited to continue this journey alongside our young people, as they will one day change our city and world.