My World Changers

What I’ve learned from doing youth work

By Chaylin Diaz

It’s 5:00PM and I am currently on the Red line preparing myself to speak in front of the scariest crowd I have ever had the honor of addressing, as they are the most important people to me. I have planned conversation starters, icebreakers, and possibly a joke or two. When I arrive I see the shining faces of the group of young women who would shape everything I understand about our youth today.

As an adult, I constantly wish that in my youth I knew what I know now. I wish someone had told me about the different forms of abuse, the struggles I would encounter as a Hispanic woman, the battles I would have to fight as a woman of color and an openly sometimes androgynous lesbian woman, and that I could create change with nothing more than determination.

When I was asked to run a girls’ group in the Community Art Center in Cambridge I knew that I would only be successful if I was allowed the freedom to speak uncensored, openly, and without judgment. The group I run, the B.E.S.T (Believing and Educating ourselves while Standing Together) Girls Group, is essential for our youth because they can come with any questions or concerns they may have and know that their peers and I will try our best to find a solution. It is critical for them to know that they do not have to go through their experiences alone. I formed the girls’ group with the purpose of creating a safe space for our youth to use as a resource. For most of my girls it is the only resource they have. The only requirements to join this group are to be at least 12 years old and to identify as a female. It is free and held every Tuesday night from 5:30 to 7:30PM at the Community Art Center of Cambridge at 119 Windsor Street.

We start each session by having everyone check in with a number from one to ten, representing how we are doing at that moment. Whenever we have a new member, I explain that we maintain a safe and open space and my only rules are that we respect each person for who they are and for the opinions they express, and that we do not repeat what is shared during the meeting. I always tell my world changers that I am not here to tell them what to do but merely to guide them through my knowledge and experience; I can only tell them what I would do and they must choose what to do with that information.

We engage in conversations about sexuality, sexual orientation, our experiences as women generally and as women within our different races and cultures. The group is a safe space for members to discuss the challenges of growing up in economically challenged households, their fears, and their struggles maintaining strong selfesteem. Together, we have explored where we stand and learned how to advocate for our causes. I have taught them how to successfully apply for college and led discussions on whether they even want to pursue higher education. Through these conversations, I have learned that my students are all very different, but can respect each other through having a common safe space that empowers them to be themselves.

Our youth need to be heard. They need to be supported, and they need representation.

Whether my students are LGBTQ, heterosexual, poor, woke, still learning, black, brown, or any color of the spectrum or ethnicity, my goal is for them to acknowledge their differences respectfully, celebrate them, and come together to change the world. Together they have created a charity event to raise donations for homeless LGBTQ youth and a women’s empowerment project called “I Am Woman,” through which they asked women to share their own definition of what it means to be a woman. One of my students spent a summer learning about the struggles facing trans teens and educated others on trans issues. My world changers are phenomenal on their own; I simply provide them a space to figure out the details.

Our youth need to be heard. They need to be supported, and they need representation. They need to see you unapologetically being yourself so that they can do the same for themselves. If you know a young person, do not judge them or turn your nose up at them, but rather ask them how they are doing and if they need anything. And if you cannot help, refer them to someone who can. If I’ve learned anything from my amazing students, it’s that they are more resilient than they realize and are often dealing with incredibly difficult situations. I give my all for my students because I know that they will be the face of our future, and I know what a difference it would have made in my life to have someone do the same for me. It has been my greatest honor to stand by them and watch them grow every day.

Chaylin Diaz, 27, is a Hispanic Florida native and co-founder and Vice President of Youth Voices Silent Cries, a non-profit that aims to equip urban youth with tools for success. Among these skills are public speaking and positive expression of emotion, which she teaches through spoken word. Chaylin’s work in behalf of LGBTQ youth was recognized in 2015 with a Boston Latin@ Pride award.