Ubah Abdullahi

All pronouns are welcome
Class of 2022
Political Science, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Minor
American Friends Service Committee, Healing Justice Program

In partnership with Youth Undoing Institutional Racism (YUIR) Twin Cities base, this summer I worked at the intersection of Social Movement organizing and Healing Justice. YUIR is developed in partnership with its parent organization, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). AFSC’s Youth Undoing Institutional Racism programs are a multi-city youth-led network mobilizing people of all ages to work against racist systems that oppress us all. The Twin Cities Chapter of YUIR is focused particularly on Healing Justice. Healing Justice is a focus on developing and implementing restorative practices in lieu of punitive responses to harm. This work is manifold, but its principles as an anti-racist and restorative organization present the opportunity to fully disrupt the cradle to prison pipeline. In my 10 weeks as a Chuck Green fellow, I worked to develop a critical analysis of Race and Racism and the ways oppressive institutions and systems impact our capacities. The systems we live under are incredibly complex and efficient in killing Black and Brown people. Be it through medical racism, police violence, gentrification, etc. All of these violent responses are interlocked. They work together simultaneously to undermine Black vitality. With this recognition there is a critical need to address these issues from an intersectional perspective and hold intentional and restorative spaces in grassroots mobilization. 

YUIR hosted many community events this summer, of which I helped in part to plan and execute. I sat in many intergenerational roundtables that empowered young people as changemakers. We engaged politically with city leaders to challenge proposed safety plans that have long omitted youth voices. We made and distributed care packages to residents traumatized by our city’s growing militarization. I also helped launch YUIR’s summer intensive ‘It’s the Healing for Me’. This week-long intensive invited 20 young Black individuals from the Twin Cities to participate and begin their holistic journey to wellness. The intensive was a transformative experience for me in that it made me understand Black healing and joy as a tool of resistance that pours abundance back into our people.

This experience was an incredibly special one, particularly because of my amazing team at AFSC (shoutout to them!) and my direct supervisor Shanene Herbert, who modeled in practice what it means to lead with humanity and not unrealistic expectations of what accomplishment and professionalism should look like. I am deeply grateful for being in space with other Black folks working to co-create new worlds of abundance and ease for our people. I am excited to continue this work with AFSC this fall, working to build and broaden the base of YUIR.