The importance of the team building effort cannot be underestimated. These young people must bond together so as to create an environment capable of fostering trust and honest communication. Without this the group will be concerned with just improving conditions in their personal lives. Instead they must be committed to working together to bring a communal vision of health to creation.
"That's supposed to make being black and poor all right. When Watts happened, all them white folks saying, "What they rioting for? Why, they got palm trees in that slum!"
This passage from Sam Greenlee's The Spook Who Sat By The Door points to a major misconception on my part when appealing to young people. My attempt at persuading them to commit to advocacy lacked the kind of community foundation needed to make leadership into a worthwhile endeavor. Young people should feel like, by doing "advocacy", they are engaging with their community in a positive and fun way. Thus, the commitments they made are not just being met but surpassed and the passion will only grow as they concern and interest in each other turns into action.
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