St Louis YUIR and AFSC staff view and discuss Marvel's Avengers: The End Game. AFSC St. Louis / AFSC
On a recent Saturday, St. Louis Youth Undoing Institutional Racism (YUIR) gathered to wrestle with villains while building relationships, eating food, and discussing policy efforts. At the Saint Louis Galleria Mall, the group went to see Marvel’s Avengers: The End Game.
While watching the film, one could only make connections between the entertainment and reality. Afterwards, the young people assembled to address real world issues.
Meeting up to watch the film was essential to strengthening the bonds shared between the youth and advancing educational goals. Young people were able to come together and rub elbows with one another in a fun and exciting manner. While there are many documentaries about social issues from a direct lens, Marvel allows youth to look at injustice, corruption, and heroism.
When the main villain Thanos terrorizes, connections are made about what terrorizes youth’s lives. While our Thanos may be racism, seeing the Avengers identify strategies and advance actions against the antagonist made overcoming the insurmountable seem possible.
Watching the bravery of the superheroes as they organized created an appreciation of several areas of leadership. While the youth don’t have hulk strength, they have the capacity to shake this city of its ills through their teamwork and courage.
After viewing the screening, the young people had an opportunity to eat and organize around their school policy efforts. Many options were available to the young people from Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers to Charley’s Grilled Subs. Once everyone filled their stomachs and finished talking about the movie, the real work began.
A letter of demands to the Saint Louis Public Schools Board of Education had been drafted based on the insight and wherewithal of the YUIR group. These action items were a part of a follow up to conversations at the March Freedom School a couple months back. Some of the issues addressed include tastier food options, standardization of technology, teacher training, and accountability for school resource officers. After reading and discussing feedback around the letter, the letter had overwhelming support within YUIR.
For more information and to get involved, contact Jonathn Pulphus at JPulphus@afsc.org.