By Keyshawn Davis

In 1999, Black staff working in California’s Capitol developed a program to make Black elected officials and staff more accessible to the community. The project started by engaging young Black individuals in the legislative and political arena while educating them about the many functions of California’s government. 

The Black Youth Leadership Project started with a legislative open house, where young people from throughout California were invited to the Capitol to act as legislators for a day, according to BYLP President and CEO Lorreen Pryor. Pryor joined the nonprofit in 2005 as the vice president of recruitment and retention and took over as president in 2009.

Additionally, the BLYP offers free educational advocacy for people who need help navigating the education system, according to Pryor. The organization has two buildings in Elk Grove equipped with a podcast studio where they record their own podcast called “Black versus the Board of Education,” which teaches communication skills through the podcasting framework. The nonprofit also shows up to school board meetings in Elk Grove, where the city ranks No. 1 in the state for disproportionate discipline of Black children.

Pryor said BYLP has been attending school board meetings since 2018. “If Elk Grove was not No. 1 in the state of California for disproportionate discipline of Black children, they should not have a problem with somebody who’s coming in to specifically deal with that particular issue.” Pryor said. “Everybody’s contributions are needed, but somebody needs to be in the business of that being their specialty. This is our specialty. Does that mean we won’t serve other kids? No, but we’re specific about Black kids. And we’re unapologetic about that.”

Pryor said one of their biggest initiatives is their youth peer mentor programs. The Mindfulness Based Substance Abuse Treatment program, which isn’t abstinence based but, instead, educates youth on the consequences if they do decide to use drugs. 

“We’re trying to give them other tools, so they don’t have to rely on substances to try to survive,” Pryor said. “We send our kids into hostile education systems, into the hostile society … and we’re expecting our kids to be able to navigate through some of these tough situations, when we haven’t taken the time to build up those tools that they need to cope. What we expect from them is they’re resilient, but some of the stuff that is happening shouldn’t be happening in the first place.”

Youth members from BYLP can express themselves through the “Black versus the Board of Education” podcast. Pryor said she tells the youth stories and allows them to form their own opinions in a safe space.

“A lot of times we don’t give our young people the space to just really listen and come up with something without judgment, or fear of being judged,” Pryor said. “I just kind of talk and they talk back and it’s no stress. I think that that’s the way that we choose to insulate our young people and help build their communication skills in the process.”

Stephen Walker, BYLP’s secretary and board member, said he loves the opportunity to engage with young Black people. He said the BYLP is continuously shepreding and it helps empower the youth to be authentically themselves.

“It is exposing them to educational, occupational, mental and physical opportunities that are here today,” Walker said. “The young people we’re talking about are whole human beings. What BYLP is doing is supporting that whole young Black person in everything in every way they present themselves. Then helping expose them to things that they wouldn’t have, just by the natural course of America’s stream. …  And BYLP is that vessel that is helping them navigate out into the open waters.” 

BYLP has 14 staff members, but before that Pryor said she was doing mostly everything on her own: advocacy, managing social media, fundraising and moderating the podcast. Now that she has staff, Pryor said she is able to divert her time to more advocacy and meetings with school districts. 

One of the staff members is Fxxi Irvin, a mentor, counselor and advocate for BYLP. Irvin said he works mainly with boys aged 8 to 18. He said they get involved in the kids’ lives and talk with them about a variety of topics, including the emotional building of manhood, schoolwork, bullying, criminal thinking and victim awareness.

“We talked about future endeavors. What does that look like? We talked about plan A, plan B, plan C, and making sure that their goals and their plans are measurable and attainable and realistic,” Irvin said. “We talked about being logical, we talked about being intentional. But we also utilize our real life training, if necessary, we’ll use some self disclosure. I myself have been incarcerated 27 years, if need be, I will use that for self disclosure only if it is utilized to help the child move forward.”

Irvin said he was incarcerated when he was 15 years old and knowing firsthand the disparities faced by Black youth, inspired him to want to give back. 

“This is my way of making amends,” Irvin said. “As my team leader says, ‘The system has an agenda for you.’ So it’s more or less painting that picture and letting them know that you have a choice right now. Right now the choice is still yours. Don’t put yourself in a position where you no longer have a choice.”

Charity Chandler-Cole is the CEO of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Los Angeles. Chandler-Cole said she met Pryor pre-COVID and admires the work being done by BYLP that empowers youth so that “they feel seen, they feel valued, they feel heard, they feel as if they’re active participants in the decision-making process.”

Chandler-Cole said the youth are empowered to experience and exert power in ways they haven’t before. 

“It’s an organization that really shares power with the people that it serves,” Chandler-Cole said. “Because of that, they look at life and the opportunities that exist differently. They’re taking it from a lens of I can own, I can lead, I can be, I can show up in whatever capacity I want to be because I’m meant to be here. It’s my birthright to be a part of something great, it’s my birthright to make an impact on myself in the community I’m serving, and it’s my birthright to be successful.”

This story is part of the Solving Sacramento journalism collaborative. Solving Sacramento is supported by funding from the James Irvine Foundation and James B. McClatchy Foundation. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review, Sacramento Observer and Univision 19.