AMY GOODMAN: You are listening to Democracy Now!, Pacifica’s national grassroots daily election show. And if you have friends around the country who do not get to hear Democracy Now!, tell them to call their community or public radio station and ask them for Pacifica’s Democracy Now! For copies of any tape of any show, including today’s, you can call our archives at 1-800-735-0230. That’s 1-800-735-0230. If you’d like to comment on the show or give us some tips, news ideas, whatever, you can contact us by email at democracy@pacifica.org. That’s democracy@pacifica.org.

Now, we’re here in California — usually broadcasting out of Washington, next week broadcasting out of New York — for the Media and Democracy Congress that’s taking place here. More than 600 activists and journalists and internet users are gathering in San Francisco in Japantown to talk about media, to talk about democracy, the kinds of things we talk about every day. And tomorrow, we’re going to be bringing you Chuck Lewis, who is head of the Center for Public Integrity, talking about the buying of the president. We’re going to be talking about money in politics and voting, something that certainly makes people angry, makes people, I believe, apathetic, feel that they can’t influence the process. We’ve got a group of young people in the studio right now who feel like they can make a difference and they are making a difference.

We want to welcome you all to Democracy Now! We’re joined by Lyn Duff, who is a youth correspondent with Pacific News Service, also works with Pacifica’s KPFA Flashpoint. She’s an intern with that program. And she also has a column that has appeared in the San Francisco Examiner. Every Tuesday, the San Francisco Examiner runs a column called “Youth Outlook,” or “YO,” and a number of young people have been able to contribute to that. We’re also joined by Dana King and J.R. Valrey. Dana King is a high school student at College Prep in Oakland. And J.R. Valrey is a 17-year-old high school student at St. Joseph’s in Alameda. He comes from Oakland. And they’re both involved with something called Youth Radio.

And we welcome you all to Democracy Now! Why don’t we begin with Dana? What is Youth Radio?

DANA KING: Youth Radio is a broadcasting and journalism program for youth. It’s a free youth and — free program that teaches youth, basically, the basic radio skills, how to DJ, how to produce pieces, how to — any just basic skills in radio. And from there, they try to get students involved in the program. They try to get them internships at other radio stations.

AMY GOODMAN: And what do you do with Youth Radio?

DANA KING: Well, right now I’m a commentary writer. I just had a commentary on NPR. And yesterday I just filmed my commentary for a teen show that we have here called First Cut. So, I graduated from the program, and I’m still trying to stay hooked up with them a little bit. They’re helping me get my voice on the airwaves. But I don’t have like a definite role with them right now.

AMY GOODMAN: Tell us about the commentary you did for National Public Radio.

DANA KING: Oh, it was about — well, I’ve done two. I have another one coming up March 8th. I don’t know if it’s going to be on National Public Radio, but it’s going to be on a local public station. But one was just about my point of view as a woman and how it feels to walk down the street and be looked at by men and how I feel like that’s, in a certain — to a certain extent, an assault. And another one was just about being biracial. So, you can really write about a lot of different things about your perspective.

AMY GOODMAN: What did you say about being biracial?

DANA KING: Well, I was talking about how I didn’t like people asking me all the time what I was. And so it was basically just about how I learned to — it was about my finding a definition for my — who I was racially, and also about my finding a way of dealing with people when they would ask me that question.

AMY GOODMAN: What do you say?

DANA KING: I say, “I’m mixed,” or I say, “I’m Dana King,” or I say — it depends. It depends on how well I know the person. But if I don’t know the person and they ask me something like that, I usually say, “Well, it’s not really any of your business.”

AMY GOODMAN: You know, when a baby is first born, the first question is “Is it a boy, or is it a girl?” Do you feel race as a defining question in the society?

DANA KING: Absolutely. I mean, I think that’s a kind of naive question, actually, because it seems so obvious that race is a defining factor in the society. All you have to do is walk through any city and see where white people live, where Black people live, where the Latino people live. Everybody lives in a different place. Everybody goes to school in different places. It seems to me like it’s pretty obviously a defining factor in our society, of where you — who you’re going to be, where you’re going to live, who you’re going to associate with.

AMY GOODMAN: Do you feel, in the presidential election, the campaign that is going on now for a year — do you feel like it is a major issue when it’s talked about, and even when it’s not?

DANA KING: Yeah, I definitely feel it’s a major issue, because — especially right now when they’re trying to cut out affirmative action and a lot of minority rights programs or programs to help minorities get a foot into the door of the power structure. So, yeah, I feel, when they discuss it — I feel most often now that minority rights are being attacked.

And so, I feel, as, I guess, a youth of color, that this election is very important, in terms of I want to make sure that someone who is for minority programs and minority rights and minority protections gets into office. And this is going to be the first time I ever vote. So, this is definitely an important election for me, because as someone who’s kind of joining the world — I’m going to turn 18, I’m going to be an adult — and who’s going to be an adult citizen for the first time, it’s important to me that I join a world where my rights are protected and where I can go to any kind of job location and feel that if I’m qualified, I’ll definitely have equal opportunity to get in there.

AMY GOODMAN: Do you feel like your vote can make a difference?

DANA KING: Yes. Yeah, I think that this is — it seems to me like this is going to be a close election. There are so many — I know there are a lot of Clinton supporters. I’m a Clinton supporter. But it seems like there are also this kind of new batch of voters, all these — this Christian Coalition and all these pro-life people. And it seems like it’s going to be a real fight to see which side wins. And I think yeah, my vote will make a big difference, one more person supporting righteous people, righteousness.

AMY GOODMAN: You’re listening to Dana King, who is a high school student here in Oakland and part of a project called Youth Radio. J.R. Valrey is also a part of Youth Radio. When is your show, J.R.?

J.R. VALREY: Well, Youth Radio goes on the air every Friday from 7:00 to 9:00.

AMY GOODMAN: At night?

J.R. VALREY: Uh-huh, at night.

AMY GOODMAN: And what do you do on Youth Radio?

J.R. VALREY: Well, right now — I just graduated from the program with Dana. Right now I’m hooked up with an internship at another radio station where Youth Radio actually handles the production of it. So, I basically do that. And then I do a lot of peer teaching.

AMY GOODMAN: What do you mean, “peer teaching”?

J.R. VALREY: Like, well, some students — we’ll have new students coming in. And we have like digital editing classes and stuff like that, that’s going on right now. And I do teaching as far as I’ll teach students how to edit, I’ll teach students how to do production and stuff like that.

AMY GOODMAN: What difference has radio made in your life?

J.R. VALREY: Well, I think radio, as well as newspaper, because I also work for Pacific News Service — I think they both have given me — they have both given me a voice in the media, to say what I want to say and give my viewpoint and my community’s viewpoint.

AMY GOODMAN: What do you feel that the media is missing? What voice, what unique voice, are you bringing to the whole discussion?

J.R. VALREY: I’m bringing the voice of — let me see. I mean, I think that I’m bringing the voice of, basically, youth of color, as a male. Can you rephase the question?

AMY GOODMAN: Well, let me ask you this.

J.R. VALREY: OK.

AMY GOODMAN: Why don’t we be very specific? When you work for Pacific News Service, what have you written about?

J.R. VALREY: I’ve written about affirmative action. I’ve written about the death penalty. I’ve covered a lot of social issues.

AMY GOODMAN: What do you feel about the death penalty?

J.R. VALREY: I feel that it should be abolished, because, I mean, it’s not applied equally. And then, how — I don’t understand how you teach someone not to murder or kill by killing them.

AMY GOODMAN: You have a number of people on death row here in California. You also have the — what is it? This “maxi-maxi” prison at Pelican Bay, the — something that we even hear about on the East Coast, quite something. And the prison guard lobby here, what, the second most powerful lobby in the state, and a very, very healthy — or some might say unhealthy — vast, growing prison industry here, the prison building industry.

J.R. VALREY: Thanks to Pete Wilson.

AMY GOODMAN: Let’s talk to Lyn and go back to J.R. Lyn, you’re with Pacific News Service also. Your column has appeared in the San Francisco Examiner, as well. What have you written about?

LYN DUFF: I’ve written about a lot of different things, everything from being on food stamps to I recently came back from Haiti and interviewed President Aristide. I try to — what I think is really important is that we have a say in the media and in things that are written in the media, because if you read the newspaper, most of the articles, even the articles about young people, they don’t quote us, they don’t talk to us. They talk to probation officers, to judges, to lawyers, to parents, to teachers. But how often do you see a young person themselves quoted, if they haven’t been a victim of a crime? It’s never. And the way that they portray us is as gang members, as criminals, as dangerous. They’re really, I think, contributing to the whole move to criminalize and demonize young people in this society.

AMY GOODMAN: Now, there’s actually going to be a protest here today, at what? Five o’clock. And it involves a young person. Can you tell us that? It’s a story you’ve been covering.

LYN DUFF: There’s a young girl, a 16-year-old, who was out past curfew, and her mother called the police and had the police pick her up, because she was concerned about her daughter, as any parent would be. And the police took her to the Youth Guidance Center, which is the Juvenile Hall in San Francisco. And she refused to be strip-searched in front of two men. And because she refused to be strip-searched, one man held her down on the ground.

AMY GOODMAN: These were male guards?

LYN DUFF: These were male guards, yeah. One man held her down on the ground, and four women tore her clothes off, while the other male supervisor watched from the doorway. And then the man picked up her legs and looked between them. And it’s something that happens a lot to young people. There isn’t really a lot of respect for us in society as a whole. And this whole policy with strip-searching is that when it came out in the papers, Ed Flowers, the head of Youth Guidance Center, was saying, “Well, you know, I don’t know if there’s really anything the matter with it.” But if it had happened to an adult female prisoner, there would have been outrage. It would have been totally inappropriate. It would have been against the law. But because it happened to a young person, it’s suddenly a question of, “Well, I don’t know if it’s really, you know, against policy or not.” So, there’s a protest today at 5:00 at the Youth Guidance Center, which is 375 Woodside, across from McAteer High School at the corner of Portola. And it’s called by Youth Uprisings Coalition.

AMY GOODMAN: Have you gotten a chance to write about this in the San Francisco Examiner?

LYN DUFF: Not yet.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, you’re also involved with the Community Organizing Team of Berkeley Oakland Support Services. Can you tell us about what that is and how it fits in to the election?

LYN DUFF: Well, it’s a new project by Berkeley Oakland Support Services to start a youth program. And really, it’s because so many of the issues coming up in the elections, and coming up now with “three strikes” and all the student walkouts, have been directly affecting youth. And although most youth aren’t old enough to vote, obviously, or don’t qualify because — for whatever reasons, because they’re immigrants or because they’re convicted felons or whatever, that we really need to have a say in the way things are happening.

And also, we have to — young people don’t vote. And I know they talk a lot about youth apathy. And I think that really comes from a perspective that voting doesn’t change anything. And it’s true that voting might not change — probably won’t change the systematic reasons for young people being oppressed and for the attacks on affirmative action and the attacks on on youth and immigrants and women, women’s rights. But what they can do is at least having say — you can at least say no to propositions. You can at least say, “No, I don’t accept 'three strikes.' No, I don’t accept this.” And so we’re really trying to encourage young people to vote as a tactic for social change, and also for youth to get involved in the election-time issues and fighting for increasing the minimum wage and fighting for more rights for homeless people in Oakland. We’re trying to get a children’s trust, which would guarantee funding for youth programs.

AMY GOODMAN: You yourself were homeless. Is that right?

LYN DUFF: Yeah, I was homeless for most of my adolescence.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, we’re going to have to wrap up, and I hope that we can continue this discussion over time. We’re going to be here through the election, and we’d like to have you back to talk about your reaction to different issues. J.R., you are 17. Are you going to be old enough to vote in November?

J.R. VALREY: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: Are you planning to?

J.R. VALREY: I turn 18 in April. Yes, I do plan to vote.

AMY GOODMAN: Is it something you look forward to? Does it matter to you?

J.R. VALREY: Yes, I think it does matter. I think, just like Dana said, it’s just — it’s one more vote behind that, what you believe.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you all very much for joining us. And I hope that you’re going to be offering us some commentaries on Democracy Now! We’ve been joined by Dana King, who’s a high school student in Oakland. And you sound a lot older than that, I’ll tell you. J.R. Valrey, student at St. Joe’s High School in Alameda. And I want to thank Lyn Duff, a youth correspondent with Pacific News Service and an intern here at Flashpoints at KPFA and part of the Community Organizing Team of Berkeley Oakland Support Services.

Again, for our listeners, if you’d like a copy of this show, of Democracy Now!, or any show, you can call 1-800-735-0230. That’s 1-800-735-0230. You can contact us, comment, whatever. If you’d like to send a letter to one of the young people who we’re talking to today, we can pass it on. You can send us email, democracy@pacifica.org. Our address again, democracy@pacifica.org. And again, we’re here for the Media and Democracy Congress. I’m glad that’s given us an excuse to get to meet you in person. We’ll be going back to Washington next week and then to New York. So we do hope you will all stay with us and urge stations around the country to run Democracy Now!

Well, that’s it for another edition of this program. Democracy Now! is produced by Julie Drizin. Today’s program was engineered by Michael Yoshida at the studios of Pacifica station KPFA in Berkeley. I’m Amy Goodman. Have a good day.