Despite Controversy, YES Students Focus on Martin Luther King's Message
Local conservatives have taken issue with a local student-led group that has helped get out the vote, and advocated for student and teacher rights. Amid heavy criticism, Racine Unified and United Way backed out of supporting MLK day events.
After hours of volunteering their time at local nonprofit agencies Monday morning, hundreds of students — members of Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES) — took to the streets to march on a frigid afternoon to honor Martin Luther King Jr. YES, a youth group overseen by Voces De La Frontera, organized the Martin Luther King Day events. The group has had its share of critics as being political, but advisors from YES say it's a nonpartisan group. Still, over the past year, a number of conservative groups have voiced criticism over YES, especially after conservative talk show host Mark Belling put pressure on the United Way to stop funding Voces De La Frontera when it worked on get-out-the-vote projects, put together a student bill of rights …
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Ed Holladay
11:46 am on Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The United Way can not win in these highly political times. They piss someone off no matter what they do. I am glad not to be in charge of that organization. more ›