Comic book teaches Philly youth about their rights regarding law enforcement

Kendra Van De Water has dependably been passionate about helping youth The CEO and co-founder of YEAH Philly Van De Water says the organization s mission is to inform and endorsement Black youth in West and Southwest Philadelphia who have been charged with a violent crime in the legal system YEAH stands for Youth Empowerment for Advancement Hangout A lot of our services are holistic sponsorship and the goal is to help young people become self-sufficient and stay in the district with services instead of being incarcerated she explained We do a whole bunch of different things such as educational activities skills and employment offerings our court plan which provides private representation and court advocacy and we have a hangout space for young people to come and get sponsorship with things that they need One of YEAH Philly s newest initiatives is a comic book but not your standard comic Instead of superheroes and supervillains this comic s characters are police officers judges and young people Van De Water explained that it s an attempt to explain the complexity and nuance of interacting with law enforcement and the criminal justice system in a format that youth can relate to So the comic book came from the idea that knowing your rights with interactions and law enforcement is a lot of information she revealed And oftentimes it s too much information for young people and for anyone adults as well And if you don t know the law or if you re not in this work every day you re not constantly going to know what to do So this is a way to help young people learn tough information and put great graphics in it and write stories in their language The comic book contains relatable characters and language for young people to be more engaged Photo courtesy of YEAH Philly The book Because the youth that YEAH Philly serves have been involved in the legal system they face unique challenges Van De Water commented navigating these situations including interactions with law enforcement can be complex The comic book stems from our work in the juvenile system and we have constantly done trainings around knowing your rights when it comes to police interactions because a lot of things come up when you have a occurrence in the legal system and you don t inevitably understand what s happening she declared The comic book addresses various situations youth may find themselves in What do you do when you re under arrest she petitioned Are you able to film the police What happens during traffic stops and Terry stops temporary detentions by police What happens during police misconduct With all of these things what can you do What do you do when cops come to your door and they re saying that they have a warrant or they don t have a warrant Are police able to search your car So it s all of these different scenarios in there She stated centering youthful characters and how they talk can help readers picture themselves in these situations and feel more equipped to handle them The language in there stems from young people she noted How do they talk How do they have conversations And the scenarios in there are real-life situations that happen The comic book has a glossary which explains terms so youth better understand them The comic books contain lots of youth materials as well Photo courtesy of YEAH Philly While focused on youth Van De Water explained it can be of use to people of all ages and backgrounds This is another way for people to improve the development for young folks around a topic that s ever-growing and happening every single day she announced And so we encourage people of all ages you don t have to be a young person to buy or read the comic book We encourage everyone to take a read The future Moving forward YEAH Philly has plans for more books including a workbook to accompany the comic book and other comics about law enforcement in schools and questions around court cases Once you have your court occurrence what does that mean for you she explained What is that process You re going through these different things so what does a certain situation mean What do certain words mean At the end of the day young people should really know what s happening with their legal situation and their legal episode and they ll be able to help be a part of it and ask for things that they need she added It s all at the heart of the philosophy that guides YEAH Philly ensuring youth are an operational part of their own interaction with the legal system and understanding their rights That s what we want at YEAH Philly we want young people to be a part of what they re supposed to be she mentioned Whether they re in the legal system or not they have every right to get their requirements met Know Your Rights comic books can be located here The post Comic book teaches Philly youth about their rights regarding law enforcement appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY