The Power of Youth - NACA Students "Tag" for respect

I had the honor to see youth at the Native American Community Academy (NACA) in Albuquerque as they put their graffiti talents to use with this wall-sized "tag" of the word RESPECT on their school's bathroom walls. They came together, disappointed by the vandalism on their bathroom walls, and decided to put their art talents to work. They are tagging the word respect, one of NACA's core values, as a team of 6. They see this as a way to beautify their school, and they hope to inspire young ladies at the school to do the same with the women's bathroom. In their words:


"The project was mainly brought together to stop the vandalism in the restroom. But as the project excelled it brought out the expression and determination by our NACA youth.
So, our team wants our youth to realize that instead of graffiti they could of help out our community. "

Of note, the youth, who call themselves SPAZZER (Super Popular Artists Zip Zap Expression Recipe)applied for, and won, a Native Health Initiative "Youth Leading the Way" grant to fund the supplies for this work, and they will present on MLK's Holiday at the MLK Multicultural Celebration here in ABQ, explaining this project. SPAZZER is comprised of the following students: Nick Felipe, Seth Daw, Vaughn Stands, Shyen Casamero, Nathanial Haskie, and Xavier. Olu Abosede, a mentor of theirs at NACA, has been instrumental in supporting the students' dream to use graffiti art to bring RESPECT to themselves and their school community. Let us never forget to see the power of youth to heal this world!