Highlights from the 2014 FMJC with Personal Note from Youth Leader Jordan Scruggs

2014 FYRE Media Justice Camp

2014 FYRE Media Justice Camp

By Quita Tinsley, SPARK Youth Organizer

SPARK’s 2014 Fierce Youth Reclaiming & Empowering Media Justice Camp (FMJC), in collaboration with Advocates for Youth, brought 10 queer and trans youth of color from across the Southeast to Atlanta to reimagine and create their own media. This year participants advanced their blogging and vlogging skills and learned how to incorporate it into their activism.  The trainings included reproductive justice, digital storytelling, and the following topics: closing the coverage gap, abortion access (1 in 3 Campaign), and violence against queer and trans youth of color and women of color.

In 2011, Funders for LGBT Issues found that Georgia received only $526,783 or less than $2 per person in LGBTQ funding. This lack of financial support often means that organizations are forced to make difficult decisions about how best to serve a growing, underserved community. The SPARK FYRE program does this by providing opportunities for queer and trans youth of color from the Southeast to develop relationships, get hands on media training, and gain reproductive justice organizing and leadership skills. Importantly, it gives participants a platform to amplify their voices, lived experiences, and accelerate their activism.

The 2014 media campers produced three short videos and wrote three blogs, which will roll out later this fall.

Jordan Scruggs

Jordan Scruggs, FMJC ’13 Camp Attendee, FMJC ’14 Camp Peer Leader

Jordan Scruggs, one of SPARK’s youth leaders, was a 2013 FMJC participant and returned this year as a 2014 FMJC peer leader. “I wanted to be a peer leader because I know how important the voices and stories of QPOC lives are,” says Jordan. “We’re a beautiful, diverse, and complex community and our lives and stories matter. They deserve to be told and I believe that blogging is the perfect medium to do it.”In her spare time, Jordan runs several blogs, one of which is Jordan Ponders. As we mourn the loss of another black youth at the hands of state violence, now more than ever, we must recognize the psychological impact it has on those living at the intersections of race, gender, class, and sexuality.  In the wake of current events, Jordan’s recent post, “Absence of Hope,” is on her journey with mental health and depression. As a true to life activist, she uses her own experiences as a way to help others and fight for justice!

It is the voices of young people like Jordan that SPARK strengthens. To learn how to support SPARK’s FYRE Media Justice Camps, visit our website here.

Apply NOW to the 2014 FYRE Media Justice Camp!

2014 FMJC Post CardCamp Dates: July 24-27, 2014
Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Priority Deadline : Friday, June 13th – Applications reviewed on a rolling basis after the deadline. Space is limited.

The FYRE Media Justice Camp is a dynamic 4-day/3-night gathering of Southern lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, and questioning youth of color (LGBTQQ), ages 18-25, reimagining and creating media for our resilience, our lives, and our communities.

This year, we’re amplifying the voices of LGBTQQ Youth of color through social media and blogging! Participants will engage in interactive skill shares about reproductive justice, media justice, and artivism while gaining the skills needed to create liberatory media.

You must be able to attend the camp in its entirety to be accepted. To apply, please complete the 2014 FYRE Media Justice Camp online form. Please answer each question to the best of your ability. We thank you for your interest in this amazing gathering and look forward to reading your responses.

Young Invincibles Care About ObamaCare

By Quita Tinsley

National Youth Enrollment Day

Visit getcoveredamerica.org for more info!
Photo Credit: Synergy By Design

February 15th is “National Youth Enrollment Dayfor the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly referred to as “Obamacare.” In fact, this is the last day one can enroll in the marketplace in order to get a health policy that will go into effect by March 1st. As a youth leader of SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW, a health justice advocacy organization in Atlanta, GA, I am excited to tell other youth about signing up for health care tomorrow. Yet, National Youth Enrollment Day means so much more to me.

In the popular debate about health care, TV analysts often describe young people as aloof to the massive issue of health care reform. They dismiss our lack of enrollment as not desiring health insurance because most of us are “healthy.” They argue that Millennials don’t care about Obamacare and call us the “young invincibles.”

Perhaps the passive viewer buys what these pundits say and never question why they aren’t talking to young people. Why they aren’t asking Millennials if they want affordable health care. This is wrong, and young people deserve to be heard. As a young, queer, Black woman living in the South, on the eve of National Youth Enrollment Day, I will share my story with you.

While enrolled in college in 2010, I was covered under my mother’s health insurance policy. A factory worker, my mother was one of the few blue-collar, low wage workers to have health insurance coverage. During a “temporary” lay-off her employer, without her knowledge or consent, canceled her health insurance policy leaving us both without coverage. Unfortunately, we did not discover this fact until a $400 medical bill arrived from one of my doctor’s visit. This might not seem like a large sum, but for my mother struggling to make ends meet with a daughter in college, this was huge. Shortly thereafter, she was permanently laid off by her employer, and we have both been without health insurance.

My story is not unique. African Americans are 55 percent more likely to be uninsured than White Americans and account for 20 percent of the uninsured in the US. Nationally, 6.8 million African Americans eligible for coverage are uninsured with 55 percent (3.8 million) having family incomes 100 percent below the Federal Poverty Line. 3.2 million (47 percent) are young adults ages 18 to 35, and of this figure, 1.3 million (41 percent) are women.

The figures are staggering. And yet, while we fight to live long, healthy lives – overcome health disparities and their causes – insurance companies are fighting for their bottom-lines pressuring consumers into more expensive insurance plans and concealing the benefits of the ACA. Let’s be clear, when a multi-million dollar company says they can’t afford to provide health care to their employees, what they are actually saying is that saving a buck and turning a profit means more to them than the safety and health of their workers.

Unfortunately, this behavior is all too common and is mirrored by our elected officials. Instead of rallying for our best interests, many have tried their best to halt the promise of the ACA, even going so far as to shut down the Federal government to prevent its implementation and rejecting key measures of the policy that could save the lives of millions. As of February 7, 2014, 25 states (Georgia included) have opted to not expand Medicaid eligibility, denying health care coverage to the estimated 1.7 million young African Americans ages 18 to 34 that would be eligible for Medicaid coverage if all states participate in the ACA’s Medicaid expansion program. In a state home to 631,000 uninsured African Americans, Governor Deal’s decision to reject federal subsidies and not expand Medicaid is mindboggling.

Furthermore, naysayers attribute low-enrollment of young adults in the health care marketplace to the eventual failure of this health care reform. While simultaneously blocking low-income young people from receiving coverage. How can the policy live up to its potential when those most in need are being denied access? An estimated 500,000 African American young adults have already received coverage under a provision of the ACA that allows youth to stay on their parent’s insurance plan until age 26.  But what about the 40 percent of LGBTQQ homeless youth? Where do they turn for health care coverage?

The ACA has provided a needed foundation for establishing competent, quality health care in the US, however, there is much more work to be done to ensure that the millions living without coverage can have access to care. As our elected officials roll the dice on our health care and our lives, we have to use our collective power to put pressure on our local governments and demand that they take action to expand Medicaid.

Yes, I am a youth — one of many living in the South who care about our health destiny.

Join us and SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday, February 20th for our 7th Annual LegislateTHIS! statewide day of action and lobby event as we stand for Medicaid expansion and health justice for all!

Visit www.getcoveredamerica.org to find local “National Youth Enrollment Day” events in your area.

Quita TinsleyQuita is a self-described ‘city girl, with small town roots.’ She is a graduate of Georgia State University (the real GSU) with a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, a concentration in Public Relations and minor in Sociology. Due to the power of capitalism, she moonlights as a recruiter for a staffing agency in Metro Atlanta.

She was a participant in SPARK’s 2013 FYRE Media Justice Camp and a former Communications and Programs intern. She’s a femme, a feminist and a woman of color. She believes in the power of storytelling and validation of lived experiences. She hopes to continue fighting oppression and uplifting silenced people, all while wearing a stylish bow and lipstick.

Why is health care important to you?

February 15th is “National Youth Enrollment Day” for the Affordable Care Act.

Today, SPARK is amplifying the voices of LGBTQQ Youth of Color by highlighting the experiences of our young leaders!

Micky and Alexis have provided their responses to the question “Why is health care important to you?”, highlighting the ways in which LGBTQQ Youth of Color have been marginalized in the health care debate. For more info on National Youth Enrollment Day and to find enrollment events near you, visit getcoveredamerica.org.

REMINDER: Join us Thursday, February 20th at 9:00AM to demand health care for LGBTQQ Youth of Color at the 7th Annual LegislateTHIS – Taking Action for Medicaid Expansion: For Our Bodies, Our Futures, Our Communities. RSVP at http://legislatethis.sparkrj.org

Micky – Health Care & Queer Youth

Micky discusses why health care is important to him as a Black, gay man.

 

Alexis – Health Care & Queer Youth

Alexis discusses why health care is important to her.

The 3 Questions That Every American Should Ask About Obamacare

Originally posted at PolicyMic. Written by Dani McClain with comments from SPARK Executive Director Malika Redmond.

The 3 Questions That Every American Should Ask About Obamacare Image Credit: AP

The 3 Questions That Every American Should Ask About Obamacare Image Credit: AP

This week opens the six-month window for uninsured people to figure out how and whether they’ll get coverage under the new system created by the Affordable Care Act. For some, it will be a time of punching their age and income into an online calculator and coming to know the words “bronze,” “gold,” “silver” and “platinum” as plan options rather than precious metals. For others, this first open enrollment period will bring news that they’re newly eligible for Medicaid benefits. And for others, not much will change because their state’s political leaders have rejected a piece of the ACA that promises to improve health outcomes for poor and low-income people.

Eventually, when all the conjecture is replaced by observable evidence, we’ll be able to draw conclusions about just how well health care reform is working and for whom. In the meantime, here are three questions to keep in mind.

Read more The 3 Questions That Every American Should Ask About Obamacare