“We come from different cultural and community backgrounds which help understand each other and how we feel as minorities in rural settings. We live in farmworking areas that are very isolated. Each year we choose and then explore three issues of concern in our lives. We strive for justice through performing arts (theater, spoken word and music) in order to create systemic change
“For example, recently we were concerned about efforts to ban books and critical race theory in our schools. We studied the issues, prepared a presentation and then we went and gave a presentation at a local school board where the issues were up for a vote. (We were pleased that the efforts were defeated after our presentation!) We want to have a voice, and we want our communities of farmworkers to have a voice in issues that impact our lives.”
Justice Organization of Youth (JOY) was founded by members of the Overnight Leadership Camp in 2016 to give a voice to young people, primarily from farmworking families in the Lake Ontario and Finger Lake regions of western New York.
JOY offers presentations to schools, community events and congregations across New York.