KOKUMO pulled two cherry pies from a shopping bag and set them on the table before her peers. "These are for all of you," she said with grin. She ate a piece, and then admitted with a giggle that it was her breakfast.
It was a late morning at the Southwest Youth Collaborative, and KOKUMO prepared for a day of activities with direct-action organization, Gender JUST.
KOKUMO, 21, is a student at Chicago State University, but she's devoting much of her summer to community organizing. This day was a continuation of KOKUMO's work on the "Safe and Affirming Education" campaign. KOKUMO attended a training on community organizing and then helped plan the organization's upcoming events and actions.
"I wish somebody would have done it for me," she said, noting that protections for queer students would have made her days in Chicago Public Schools easier. "The change is only going to come when we force it to."
With all that schooling and organizing what does KOKUMO do for fun? "Work and sleep." And eat pie, maybe, which was also lunch.
THE STATS
Neighborhood
Pilsen
Profession
Student/Community Organizer
Relationship Status
Single
Words to live by
"Don't spread yourself too thin."