Thread: Escaping Reality: Brooklyn Youth Group Comes To Cape Cod

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Escaping Reality: Brooklyn Youth Group Comes To Cape Cod

by Courtney Alex

It is not often you find a 15-year-old who knows housing rights and laws. Or an 18-year-old who is fighting the standardization of the education system Adriana Mendoza, 15, and Karla Lopez, 19 founded the Y-ACT (Youth Action Changes Things) in Brooklyn, N.Y. They recently came to town with 2001 Chatham High School graduate Brett Tolley, along with over a dozen of children ages nine to 19 to get these kids out of the city to see what’s out there.

Tolley, who graduated from Elon University in North Carolina, currently lives in New York with his wife. He works for the Fifth Avenue Committee in Brooklyn as an immigrant advocate. He helps new immigrants advance justice around issues of education, work, health and immigration. He started helping with Y-ACT last May, when Mendoza and Lopez started the group.


The group takes a ride on Stuart Tolley’s boat at the Fish Pier. BRETT TOLLEY PHOTO
“The youth in Brooklyn face many problems such as discrimination, racism and unequal opportunities like in school,â€

Are the parents of these kids here legally, and are all of the kids here legally? Does anyone even ask?

Why not help underpriviledge kids PERIOD. Why does it always have to be about Latinos. They have it pretty easy. There are many children of every race that needs support. My tax dollars are going to aid ALL the illegal invaders children as it is. They are not hurting. Trust me I know first hand. My mother taught english to these invaders in the 80's and 90's. Back when their parents used to try to learn english. They are not struggling. One adult student asked my mother if she needed any food because she had so many food stamps left!!!! I hated illegal invaders then and I feel even strongly against them now as an adult. They are sucking this country dry and they need to be stopped once and for all!!!