Kuumba Youth Liberation Academy(KYLA) of Louisville Kentucky, is a homeschool dedicated to reprogramming, rebuilding, and restoring traditional greatness to African American youth and families. The population of students ranges from grade K-12. This past Fall and Spring, I worked with the high school group of 10 on STEM as well as preparation for the Jefferson County Communication Competition. There were 3 of the 10 youth that participated in the communications competition. One of K.Y.L.A' s standing principles comes from the Nguzo Saba (7 principles) and that is: Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves. This principle is implemented not only in school time but personal time as well. When I approached their teacher about letting them participate in the communication competition, she was on board immediately and expressed to me how this could help them gain more confidence in public speaking. 

With the need being identified which was to improve public speaking skills, we began choose topics/demonstrations that the participants could speak on to define themselves and could communicate with passion. All of the participants were a bit hesitant and maybe even intimidated at the thought of speaking in front of others. The K.Y.L.A Team and myself verbally affirmed them and guided them on their presentations. I was amazed at the wealth of knowledge each participant had, they needed little help on their content just the structure of their content. While in this process, one participant let us know that he was too afraid to participate and decided to drop out at the last minute. I was shocked because he had done so well up until the day of the event. I did not want him to feel pressured so I said "you can try again next year". That night, he courageously displayed Kujichagulia/self-determination, he came to the competition not only to support his peers but to participate as well, that was a proud moment for us all. 

In conclusion, We had all 3 participants recognized with certificates of participation and one participant selected to go to the state competition. I'm sure this will be one small step towards collaboration as well as conituing on with the 4-H mission to make the better best and let all youth have a positive 4-H experience and memories to share.