The Disadvantages of Youth United for Change

Youth United for Change works to build the leadership of working-class black and Latinx young people in Philadelphia. YUC has been organizing high school students for nearly 25 years to address inequalities they face in the educational system. By the 2010s, several concerned dynamics had emerged within the organization. Staff took a hands-off approach to member development assuming that by the virtue of being in oppressed social positions, young people had all the tools they needed to lead without outside assistance.