The All Youth Are Sacred (AYAS) Narrative Power Building Initiative was established by a core group of youth justice advocates within the California Alliance for Youth and Community Justice (CAYCJ) coalition in the fall of 2022.
The group came together to:
1) align our understanding of what it takes to build narrative power as a proactive strategy
2) deepen our movement’s analysis of youth incarceration trends throughout the state.
Through collective analysis and data the findings were clear:
Youth incarceration and crime rates over the last 50 years have fallen to historic lows while funding for community safety stays in the hands of punitive systems that are harming our young people.
Traditional media outlets have failed to capture these stories. To the contrary, traditional media has used criminalizing youth narratives to scapegoat youth for the recent 2023 uptick in crimes. Meanwhile, opponents to reform spread disinformation on social media about the rise in crime and villainize young people.
