Ep. 75 - Youth Radio: Inside & Out ft. Simone St. Pierre Nelson & Stories by Youth Incarcerated in Seattle

BrownTown and Simone discuss the power of youth radio in this
episode that includes three (3) full audio stories produced by
and featuring teens incarcerated in Seattle. In April 2021,
Simone, David, and Caullen worked with the teens to create the
featured stories in a two-day workshop with KUOW Radioactive
Youth Media. They discuss the importance of authentic narratives
in media creation, intergenerational youth programming, and
uplifting justice-involved youth while navigating inequitable
social conditions and the institutions that reinforce them.
Collectively, BrownTown and Simone unpack their personal
proximity to these themes, the pitfalls of adultism, and zoom out
to compare and contrast the obvious stark differences and
invisible similarities between restorative justice and the
carceral system; and commissary and capitalism.


As creators of media who work with younger people and were, of
course, younger people ourselves, how do we make spaces not only
accessible to youth of various ages but also create sustainable
conditions where they can thrive and we can build together? From
an abolitionist lens, how does this lend itself to making
presence outside of normative, hierarchical structure that we may
have been brought up in? Here's their take.


GUEST


Simone St. Pierre Nelson (all pronouns) is an 18-year-old writer
and audio producer who is passionate about radio, education
justice, and police and prison abolition. Simone produces and
teaches with RadioActive Youth Media at KUOW Public Radio, hosts
a podcast amplifying youth organizers for Student Voice, and was
an intern and facilitator for the Seattle-based National Center
for Restorative Justice. Simone lives with their family in
Issaquah, Washington, and is headed to college in California in
the fall. When Simone isn't teaching and making radio, you can
find them playing dungeons and dragons or walking their dog.


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Follow Simone on Twitter, Instagram, listen to her podcast
Students Speak Out, and follow her work at KUOW. Follow
Student Voice on their site and Linktree.


Audio stories from 'They can never lock your mind up.' Three
stories from juvenile jail (in order of episode and article):



'More than my name.'
[transcript] -- Milli, Shadow
and Glow discuss observing Ramadan in jail, what they do for
joy, and what makes them proud.


'Can't nobody make you change. You got to change
yourself.'
[transcript]-- Milli, Tilley
and Trilly say job training, mentorship and access to youth
programs— not incarceration— is what King County youth need to
thrive.


'Your body is in jail but your mind is
not.'
[transcript] -- From
brushing their teeth to "smacking some snacks," J-Wow, T-Dog
and EJ take listeners through a day in juvenile detention.



RadioActive Youth Media is where young people discover
public radio journalism and gain access to the skills, community
and institutional resources that spur their growth as media
makers. Through their stories, listeners of all ages gain a
deeper understanding of young people whose voices are rarely
heard by the greater public (Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter).


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CREDITS: Intro song World in My Hands by
Saba ft. Smino and Legit and outro song Guerrilla Radio by
Rage Against the Machine. Audio engineered by Genta Tamashiro and
Kiera Battles. Episode photo by Megan Sobchuk.


Special thanks to KUOW RadioActive for letting BrownTown
amplify youth stories!


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