Mission
67 Sueños works with marginalized undocumented youth and youth from mixed status families affected by high rates of violence, mass incarceration, deportation, and poverty. Using political education, trauma healing, artivism, and introducing them to alternative life changing experiences, 67 Sueños cultivates youth organizing and power building by guiding youth to trust their own process and reframe their stories as a source of power and resistance.
Political Education
In order to prepare our youth to bring their powerful voices into spaces where they are usually left out of, we spend a significant amount of time supporting our youth to unpack issues of social injustice and expose them to alternative perspectives and frameworks. The topics for our political education workshops are chosen by the young people and further developed by staff.
It is key that our young people understand that these social injustices are close to home and many actually experience them on the daily basis. They learn to name them and call them out for what they are. In that light, our young people challenge their own cycles of oppression in their homes with relatives, with friends, their schools, and other places that they encounter on the daily.
Our political education is unique in the way that we do it from a youth centered point of view. Using films, discussions, theater of the oppressed, debates, museum walks, outside speakers/performers, etc. to keep them engaged and interested.
Trauma Healing
We have discovered that trauma healing is one of the most important pieces when working with youth of color. At a young age, our youth are exposed to trauma and violence. That trauma is often internalized shaping who they are and how they act in different spaces. This is why 67 Sueños immerse youth in a holistic trauma healing experience.
Our youth learn about the systems of oppression that exist in their lives, then they collectively dismantle the systemic traumas and acknowledge the similarities and differences that exist between their peers, and ultimately the youth are re-connected to their traditional indigenous healing practices such as: healing circles with copal, comida sagrada, musica terapia/drumming circles, sweat lodges, sunrise ceremonies, de-colonial political education workshops around natural tea and herb blends, poetry writing as a step to heal their minds, hearts, and bodies.
We work intentionally to create a safe and healing journey for our youth where they adopt various tools, skills, and knowledge, selecting the best fitting for them to build habits of self-care and community love.
Artivism
At 67 Sueños, artivism has become the main tool our youth use to express themselves and their stories freely. Many times we think that in order to send a powerful message one has to be a great public speaker, and although that is a great skill to have, we acknowledge that all of our youth come at different stages of capacity and skill. With this understanding, we encourage our youth to explore different ways of self-expression and share their messages of resistance and justice through poetry/songwriting, murals, chalk art, banner/poster making, and guerilla theater.
Our youth are using these tools to get out of their comfort zones and shed light on other struggles and revolutions that are interconnected with their own struggle and liberation. Through their artivism, 67 Sueños youth are cultivating bridges locally and internationally by reframing negative narratives and uplifting community resilience, power, and solidarity.
Real Life Learning
At 67 Sueños we believe in mentoring our young people to take advantage of different opportunities, even if it pushes them out of their usual comfort zone.
The reality for most of our young people is that they have never stepped out of their own neighborhoods. In these communities our young people have experienced a lot of violence resulting in trauma. For this reason, we aim to make sure our young people get to explore things that otherwise they would not be able to, from a simple BART ride across the bridge or a 6 hour car ride to L.A., to flying across the globe to serve as social justice youth ambassador, we want our young people to gain independence and experience other powerful organizations leading life transforming projects in our state, nationwide, and/or internationally.