Students from Pittsburgh attending International Congress of Youth Voices
Six area teenagers known for their commitment to activism and writing are in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as delegates to the International Congress of Youth Voices.
The five-day conference will give the delegates the chance to network with 130 other students from around the globe while participating in workshops created by congress co-founders Dave Eggers and Amanda Uhle.
“Teens are so optimistic and so free of obfuscation and indecision. They think clearly about issues and they get things done. And there’s never been a time when young activists were more powerful and more willing to use that power,” Mr. Eggers, a noted author, said in a news release.
The delegates attending are Kahlil Darden, Jhordan Price, Winston Nunley, Marci Mazza-Fredley, Giordan Dixon and Tamia Coleman. They will engage with authors, activists and other leaders to learn ways to impact their communities when they return
Among speakers at the conference, in its second year, are Palestinian peace activist Huda Abu Arqoub, government officials and activists from Puerto Rico, and authors including David WallaceWells, Chinaka Hodge and Alia Malek. The students, nominated by writing centers and other local organizations, need only pay for their travel. The program runs through Sunday and is supported by several sponsors including The Heinz Endowments.
The students attending from Pittsburgh have expressed their passions for the arts, leadership and even baking.
Khalil Darden, 18, and Tamia Coleman, 19, co -founded a local organization, Young Black Motivated Kings and Queens (YBMKQ), which is focused on networking and motivation for young people in difficult situations. Mr. Darden also founded the first black student union at Penn Hills Senior High School. Ms. Coleman is from Stanton Heights, attends Lincoln University and aspires to become an author and publicist and own a recreational center.
Jhordan Price, 16, of Propel Andrew Street Charter School, and Giordan Dixon, 19, of East Liberty, are local musicians and performers. Ms. Price is an Alumni Theater Company member, and for the past two years has been a cast member of “Rebel Verses,” an off-Broadway production in New York City. Mr. Dixon is a singer-songwriter who released an album, “#Storyteller,” in 2018, served on the Heinz Endowments Transformative Arts Committee and attends the Community College of Allegheny County.
Winston Nunley, 16, goes by “Windafire” and is a home-schooled multidisciplinary artist from East Liberty. He will record an EP later this year and co-hosts “Black Dream Escape” with Onika Reigns.
Marci Mazza-Fredley, 17, of Brookline, is a writer and baker, largely involved with women’s rights and feminist movements. In March, she led a walkout for International Women’s Day, and she had a poetry anthology published by Girls Write Pittsburgh. Ms. Mazza-Fredley attends City Charter High School.
Recognized as a delegate by the congress but unable to attend is Kieren Konig, 17, of Mt. Lebanon. The Pittsburgh CAPA student is a pianist and poet whose work is often about intersectionality and life as a transgender person.