Creating New Narratives: Youth Are the Present — Episode 157 of Building Local Power

Building Local Power

"Young people have the energy to respond immediately to crises," Addison Turner, Worcester Youth Cooperatives organizer, stated in a new documentary "Radix: Youth Build Solidarity and Worker-Ownership in the Midst of the Pandemic." The pandemic exacerbated the deeply rooted issues in cities around the nation — but the youth of Worcester, Massachusetts, decided that they wanted to enact change to create a better now. Their action lead to the formation of the Worcester Youth Cooperatives where young people are delivering food and other assistance to neighbors on bikes, growing their own food, and bringing power and a voice to Gen Z.
On this episode of Building Local Power, we are joined by two youth collaborators who played an integral role in developing the Worcester Youth Cooperatives, Mario Harper and Samuel Posner. Our third guest is now an adult ally and organizer, Addison Turner, who is also featured in "Radix." The guests detail their experience growing up in Worcester, lay out the social and cultural inequities that the city faces, and rewrite popular ideologies to encourage an active community. Addison states that "we need to destroy the myth that youth are the future. Youth are the present."