The Friedman Youth Project Summer Exploration

Every summer, the ACLU-NC Friedman Youth Project takes a week-long field investigation trip to explore a current social justice/civil rights issue of our choice.  20 young people, ages 13-19, are selected to participate.

We travel across Northern California to meet with inspiring activists, leaders, and youth; visit institutions, model programs, and services--and get different sides of the story in the process. 

You'll stay involved and educate your peers about the issues you've studied. After the trip we will be hooking you up with organizations we met with and you'll have the opportunity to use your knowledge to develop group projects addressing aspects of the trip that you respond passionately to. The projects we choose to create will depend upon your interest! What's going on in your community or at your school? What do you want to learn more about? We'll be focusing on LGBTQ issues, rights, and histories for the entire 2009-10 year, exploring it more through political education, activism, field trips, and our annual Youth Rights Conference where you get the chance to educate and mobilize other young people! 

The 2009 Summer Exploration Trip topic is: Fierce and Fabulous! A Youth Investigation into LGBTQ Histories of Resistance. 

The trip will take place July 26 - August 2, 2009. If you are interested in applying for the trip, download the application, fill it out, and attach your answers to it. Then send it all in to us postmarked by Saturday, May 23, 2009.  On Saturday, June 6th, we will be inviting selected applicants to meet with us at the ACLU office in San Francisco in a group interview-- this is necessary to be considered in the trip! You'll get a chance to meet the program staff, interact with potential participants and learn more about the trip. We will give the strongest priority to folks who will be high school students in northern California for the next school year, who participate in our meetings this spring & summer, & who demonstrate strong interest in the topic.

Click here to download the Fierce & Fabulous Summer Trip Application.

Past trips have explored the following topics:

Military Recruitment, 2007
Economic Injustice, 2006
Juvenile Justice, 2005
Sexism, 2004
War on Drugs, 2003
Immigration, 2002 & 1996
Sex Worker Industry, 2001
Corporate America, 2000
Youth Homelessness, 1999
Tribal Sovereignty, 1998
Juvenile Justice, 1997

“It is almost impossible for me to sum up the youth trip in a few sentences," said 2005 trip participant Dinah Handel, age 17. “I wish that everyone could have an experience like I did so that they could see their place in the world and discover what they need to change.”

To find out about ongoing youth programs and activities, including next year's trip, sign up for our Youth Activist Committee mailing list.