Opinion Editorial: NCYEI Community Summit

The North Columbia Youth Empowerment Initiative sponsored a community summit on Saturday, February 1st, 2025. The featured event was a panel of community leaders and law enforcement, moderated by Jonnieka Farr. I attended the event with JPower and the Rise & Shine media team.

As a matter of statement, this is an opinion piece and I bear the brunt of my thoughts in response to this event.

WHAT WORKED

• Nice venue - Earlewood Park

• Coffee and snacks in the morning

• Great moderator

• Lunch - baked potato and salad bar

WHAT DIDN'T WORK

• PURPOSE - it was unclear to me what the intent of the event was. Based on the original flier, this event was a marketing workshop, which begs the question: what was the purpose of the panel discussion? What did the proposal for this event look like? I'm not sure who the intended audience was.

• TIMING - The agenda indicated that one hour was for the panel discussion, 45 minutes for lunch, and two hours for a marketing workshop.

• LAW ENFORCEMENT - There was heavy law enforcement presence fully dressed, armed to the tee. Was that necessary? In writing this op-ed, I researched the hosting organization and they are heavily partnered with local law enforcement. The grant that funded this event is from the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

  
  

The audience was also full of law enforcement. There were also representatives of non-governmental community organizations and a sprinkle of young people. Again, who was the intended audience?

The event started with the panel that featured five community leaders, two youth representatives, and three law enforcement officers. Each panelist did brief self introductions and then the moderator asked a couple of questions followed by a Q&A. I would like to highlight the following self-introductions:

• JPower introduced himself as a representative of the people. As the discussion progressed, I was impressed with his forceful stance on the negative impact of entertainment on young people.

• Jarius Jones highlighted his work with Gangs for Peace. They provide a safe space for young people in Columbia, South Carolina on Friday and Saturday evenings between 8pm and 1am.

• Christina Graham-White stressed the importance of parents being parents to their children rather than trying to be their friend.

• Stacey Isaac, youth representative, talked about improving communication between young people and elders. Later in the session, this young man, when asked what he would change about school, he bravely said, "The teachers..."

• Tr'Mel White, youth representative - I was impressed with his desire for people to take responsibility for their actions.

The officers on the panel, overwhelmingly, were looking to unite with the community to help them do their job. My experiences with the police here in South Carolina has been terrifying for me. I can relate specific examples of personal run-ins that have shattered any belief I may have had in law enforcement. From a state trooper having fully drawn his pistol on me for a traffic stop (speeding) to a SWAT visit with helicopter in air at a private birthday party, and everything in between - I am severely disappointed. Maybe I'm naive having grown up on an island in the middle of the Pacific where the public's general relationship with the police is the polar opposite of what I've experienced here in South Carolina.

The Q&A was, in my opinion, the highlight of the morning. The audience participants added meaningful discussion. One gentleman discussed the sporting programs he offers. Another discussed the ongoing difficulty in the school system. Another asked the question, why aren't there more programs for young people that are not based on sports and entertainment?

The panel and the question and answer session opened up meaningful discourse. The audience members expressed real concerns - they are people with real problems and real issues and they need real solutions. Was the sponsoring organization taking notes to use as a starting point for problem-solving? Or, was this panel just fluff - a means to check a box that the organization fulfilled its community involvement requirement? Will this SHORT 1-hour panel discussion lead to something more meaningful where issues can be aired out and steps taken to provide real solutions?

The panel went a little over the one hour allotted time, which was interrupted to stick to the agenda and was abrupt considering the growing momentum of the audience. It was followed by lunch, graciously provided by the sponsoring organization. After lunch, the schedule indicated a 2-hour marketing workshop. Full disclosure, I attended a portion of the marketing workshop and left because of the pivot it was requiring me to do - from high energy Q&A to a marketing workshop. Disconnect! What did the panel discussion have to do with marketing, which was the original premise for the event?

In conclusion, I am not sure what the purpose of the event was. Are there arenas where community voices can be heard? Absolutely. Community members have the normal civic processes to assist in addressing their issues. However, organizations can help facilitate that with events like this and this severely missed the mark.