It's time for us to wake up and change our lives. Young people need to open their eyes this year and start working on a new beginning, a new journey into a new life complete with jobs, affordable housing and a violence-free community - brothers and sisters facing the struggle of being poor and Black in a rich white man's world.

The first thing we have to do is come together as a people. When we come together, we will be unstoppable.

Nothing is more powerful then a young Black mind. We have lost too many of our brothers a sisters due to Black on Black violence. We need to realize who the real enemy is and go after the mayor and people responsible for not supplying us with jobs or on-the-job training so that we can afford to support our families and live comfortably in our own communities.

During Unity Week at Thurgood Marshall Academic High School, students are planning an event for every day from April 14-18, starting on Monday with "Compliment Day," Tuesday with "Respect Day," Wednesday with "Teacher Appreciation Day," Thursday with "Peer Helping Day" and ending it with the "Unity Rally" on Friday during lunch.

This Unity Rally on Friday, April 18, is the project I am working on. The purpose of this rally is to help our community to better understand and respect each other and the second purpose is to make our youth aware of the unfair budget cuts and layoff of teachers that will affect our education. We are trying to invite a lot of CBOs (community based organizations) to come show us what they are a part of and in what ways they can reach out to the community. 

Caucus at Beebe Memorial: Yes you can ... select the Barack Obama delegates

The California district level delegates for the Democratic National Convention in August will be selected at local caucuses throughout the state on Sunday, April 13. Registered Democrats go to the local caucus in their congressional district at 2 p.m. and cast a ballot for their favorite delegates.

For Barbara Lee's 9th Congressional District, the caucus will be held at Beebe Memorial Cathedral, 3900 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, near the MacArthur BART Station. To represent the 9th District, four district level delegates - two male and two female - will be chosen for Obama and two for Clinton; one alternate delegate, a woman, will be designated for Obama. Oakland progressive activist Randall White wants to be one of the four delegates to represent Obama and the issues of the 9th District at the convention in Denver, Colorado.