GRIND FOR THE GREEN

Grind for the Green members

Grind for the Green
San Francisco, Calif.

Rachelle Ruiz, 18, did not know she was applying for a job when she applied for a scholarship with the nonprofit Alliance for Climate Education earlier this year. Now she’s youth director for Grind for the Green, a yearlong mix of concerts, workshops and beat battles that combine hip-hop music and environmental justice.

The purpose of Grind for the Green is to bring youth of color from the margins to the epicenter of the environmental movement through events that combine hip-hop, education and life skills. The high point is a solar-powered summer music festival, which is produced by and for youth throughout the San Francisco Bay area.

Ruiz credits the youth focus for the success of the Grind, now in its third year. “One of the main things is that youth projects, they are what youth want to do. And when adults take on a project, it might be like ‘Oh that’s kind of interesting, but I’m not too sure,’” she says.

How would you describe your work with Grind for the Green?

I love the work that we do. I think it’s really empowering. I mean, there are not many organizations out there that you could say get youth involved, especially youth of color, through the tools of hip-hop.

How has social networking been used by your group?

It’s actually very interesting. We just started yesterday working on what we hope will be a four-part video for Grind for the Green, kind of like a miniseries. And so that and Facebook and YouTube especially and Myspace and Twitter and Flicker will hopefully continue to push Grind for the Green and raise awareness.

Over the past decade, have you seen a rise in youth activism in the environmental area?

I definitely think so, certainly because the environmental movement, the green movement, has gotten bigger. You know, you can buy the green bags and your bag says, “I’m green” or whatever. So it’s kind of that whole trend along with it, and I think that’s the reason that has pushed youth to at least think about it. But I think there’s also a stronger pull on the local level with youth.

Copyright 2009 Y-Press