Local Youth Leaders Join Ty Dolla $ign and Other Artists to Advocate for Change
Free Concert Promotes Power of the Youth Vote
Sacramento, Calif., (July 20, 2016) – The statewide 2016 #SchoolsNotPrisons concert tour kicks off August 6 in Sacramento as youth leaders join national and local performing artists to call for an end to overspending on prisons and investing more in education, health and support for young people.
“Better days and better ways,” said Jake Vang, a Senior at Hiram Johnson High School, and a member of East Bay Asian Youth Center. “It’s up to us to figure out better ways and make change for better days for our community. We fight for one another.”
A primary focus of the tour will be to increase peaceful activism and voting among California’s young people whose opportunities are being cut short by overspending on jails and prisons. Since 1980, California has built 22 prisons, but just one UC campus. The state spends six times more to keep a person in state prison than on a student in K-12 schools. And in 2014, youth arrests outnumbered youth votes in California.
“For the amount of money Sacramento County spends a year on youth prisons, it could pay tuition for every single student at Sacramento City College,” said Sarahy Ramirez, a Sac City student with deferred action immigration status. “Investing in youth incarceration isn’t an investment at all, but education is. It’s time for our communities to get loud, show up at the polls and demand change!”
The tour will support campaigns by Sacramento youth and community leaders to prioritize investment in two areas: positive discipline that keeps youth in school instead of kicking them out, and the importance of shifting spending from jails to health and community services to support the formerly incarcerated establish productive lives.
“Reform begins with our youth,” said Laurie Palomo, Rehabilitation Director at Sacramento’s Self Awareness And Recovery (SAR). “The cost to house juvenile offenders is approximately four hundred dollars a day. Why has society chosen to invest in hindering rather than helping our youth? Yes, we as taxpayers chose this! Healing begins with teaching, not incarceration.”
In Sacramento, the tour is supported East Bay Asian Youth Center, Sol Collective, Sacramento City College, Sacramento City Unified School District Youth Development Support Services, Sacramento Area Congregations Together (SAC-ACT), Building Healthy Communities South Sacramento, and Self Awareness and Recovery, an organization which focuses on programs for at-risk youth.
Doors will open at 5:30 pm for the Aug 6 Sacramento event at Sacramento City College featuring Ty Dolla $ign; John Forte, rapper and former producer of the Fugees; Los Angeles Afro-Latino band Buyepongo; Bay Area hip hop artist Mystic with DJ Orijanus; Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles, the world’s first LGBTQ mariachi group; The Specialist; and local performing artists.
The free all-ages event will include an art installation featuring works by Sacramento youth, photo booths, food and more.
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About the #SchoolsNotPrisons Tour
The 11-stop #SchoolsNotPrisons tour will travel to Sacramento, San Bernardino, Oakland, Fresno, Coachella, Oxnard, San Diego,and Stockton, and also include performances at three correctional facilities. The tour is being organized by Revolve Impact, a Los Angeles-based global social impact firm specializing in integrating arts and culture into justice-related campaigns. All concerts will be free and open to all ages, with many events also featuring art exhibits by local youth and community members. Participating performers include Ty Dolla $ign, Ceci Bastida, John Forte, Gallant, La Santa Cecilia, Kimya Dawson, Los Rakas and other performers to be announced. Local performers will join the headliners at each of the concerts. Support for the tour is being provided by The California Endowment and The California Wellness Foundation. For the tour schedule and more information, see http://SchoolsNotPrisons.vote.
About The California Endowment
The California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation, was established in 1996 to expand access to, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental affordable improvements in the health status of all Californians. The Endowment challenges the conventional wisdom that medical settings and individual choices are solely responsible for people’s health. Through its ‘Health Happens Here’ campaign and ten-year initiative Building Healthy Communities, The Endowment is creating places where children are healthy, safe and ready to learn. At its core, The Endowment believes that health happens in neighborhoods, schools, and with prevention. For more information, visit The California Endowment’s website at www.calendow.org.
About the California Wellness Foundation
The California Wellness Foundation is a private independent foundation created in 1992 with a mission to improve the health of the people of California by making grants for health promotion, wellness education and disease prevention. Cal Wellness’ Advancing Wellness grants program is designed to promote equity through advocacy and access. The grantmaking focuses on three interconnected portfolios: Bridging the Gaps in Access and Quality Care; Promoting Healthy and Safe Neighborhoods; and Expanding Education and Employment Pathways. The program also includes the Opportunity Fund to support innovation in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. Since its founding in 1992, Cal Wellness has awarded 8,062 grants totaling more than $946 million. For more information, visit www.calwellness.org/.
