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We envision a society free from all forms of oppression in which decisions are made democratically and resources are utilized for the collective benefit of everyone.
We are organizing and developing the leadership of Black and Brown youth and Black women in South Florida so that they may help lead the struggle to liberate all oppressed people.
Power U Center Social Change (Power U) was co-founded in 1999 by renowned organizers, Denise Perry and Sheila O’Farrell. Being originally based in Miami’s Historic Black Community, Overtown. Much of our early work centered on environmental justice, affordable quality housing, and fighting gentrification. Power U soon began organizing youth to fight back against school-push out, criminalization and speaking out on current national issues.
For years, Power U organizers and youth members attended School Board hearings and attempted to build relationships with school board officials to advocate for the implementation of restorative justice practices in schools.
In 2017, we released a report, Miami Dade County Public Schools: The Hidden Truth, where we surveyed and interviewed over 500 young people about their experience in MDCPS. In this report, accounts of ramped sexual assault, poorly tracked programming, lack of transparency, and resources exposed some truths about MDCPS that has otherwise been unreported.
Currently, our central focus is on organizing young people to fight for safe and supportive schools. We are building Power U chapters in different high schools and fighting for schools that prioritize human development over profit, where all youth have the resources, access, and opportunity to reach their full potential and where they are treated with dignity, regardless of race, gender or economic situation.
We are also organizing local community members and building power with teachers advocating that the school district increases their pay and prioritizes funding for student supports such as mental health counselors and comprehensive sex education and divests funding from school police. We believe that as a community, we have a stake in the decisions that are made and have a say in our governance.
Our work is focused on continuing to recruit and consolidate a core group of Black and Brown working-class youth whose leadership is being uplifted and who are developed to understand their civic ability and how to combat current social/healthcare issues.