Annotated Bibliography (Research Articles & Documentaries)

• Invisible Children. "The Fourth Estate." Vimeo. Vimeo, LLC, 2011. Web. 24 May 2012. <https://vimeo.com/22679976>.

Invisible Children is an organization dedicated to bringing criminals like Joseph Kony -and other fugitives that have committed crimes against children- into custody all across the world. This particular advertisement relates the power of youth activism to the revolution of France, in which the lower class rebelled and overthrew the nobility and the clergy.

The Invisible Children group is a rather dubious group. They promote activism via social networking, something which is looked upon rather distastefully. Also, reports of the members behavior shames the purposes of this group. The future they try to project, however, is not something to be looked down upon. It is possible that worldly change is within the hands of the world’s youth. Even if the leaders now are not too much to look up to,

• Wolf, Matt, and Jon Savage. "Teaser." Teenage. Teenagefilm.com, 2011. Web. 24 May 2012. <http://teenagefilm.com/film>.

“Teenage” is a novel by Jon Savage that examines the history of youth culture. This video is a teaser to the feature-length documentary called Teenage, based off the novel by Savage.

It describes the birth of the modern teenager, from first being a tool of society -a war asset and an economy machine- to becoming the very symbols of change in a conflicted world.
 

• Felice, Celina D., and Andria Wisler. "The Unexplored Power and Potential of Youth as Peace-Builders." Journal of Peace Conflict & Development 11 (2007): 1-29. Peacestudiesjournal.org.uk. Web. 24 May 2012. <http://peacestudiesjournal.org.uk>.

   
The authors of this article are Celina Del Felice and Andria Wisler. Felice is a PhD student at the Centre for International Development Issues in the university of Nijmegen, Netherlands. She has considerable experience with government politics, especially regarding youth. Wisler is a PhD candidate in Comparative and International Education. at Teachers College, Columbia University in NYC. This article, considering the authors, seems to be very unbiased and decently legitimate.

The article answers one of my essential questions in its own manner. Should youth be more involved in politics? According to this article, yes, they should. “There is a strong tendency among
politicians and researchers to see youth as a problem to be solved. However, many youth are
peaceful and peace-builders. Equally affected by various forms of violence, they decide to act
constructively towards building a culture of peace. Youth are underestimated as positive
agents of change and key actors in peace-building, both by policy-makers and academics.” (Felice 2) This article was useful to me because it reminded me of the importance of more peaceful protest, not just the more aggressive ones that we see so many of today.

• Lesko, Wendy. Maximum Youth Involvement: The Complete Game Plan for Community Action. Kensington, MD: Youth Activism Project, 2003. Print.

Wendy Lesko is the author of Maximum youth Involvement. She created this “game book” in order to answer a large array of questions that she created just for the educational purposes of activism in youth. Her questions are quite thought-provoking. It is a very useful source, making you think while also listing many, many ways that you can become involved in your community, or get others to join your cause.
   
in this game planning book, Lesko also offers numerous quotes about youth involvement, proposes milestones for ascending youth activists, and giving encouraging tips to them. I assume that this author would also support my essential question- Should youth be more politically involved? She obviously realizes the importance of youth involvement. However, being executive director of the Youth Involvement Game Plan group, this book is most likely biased towards these results. This was a very interesting article.

• Davis, Dernoral. "When Youth Protest: The Mississippi Civil Rights Movement, 1955-1970." Mississippi History Now. Mississippi Historical Society, Aug. 2001. Web. 24 May 2012. <http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/articles/60/the-mississippi-civil-rights-movement-1955-1970-when-youth-protest>.

This article by Dernoral Davis comes from a relatively credible source; it comes from an education Mississippi museum website. In this article, Davis, Ph.D., who is chairman of the history department at Jackson State University, recalls upon the past youth protests in Mississippi for the Civil Rights Movement. Although it is an older source, the importance of the material included has not changed. \

“When Youth Protest” offers a much more personal look into the lives of youth during the 1950’s-1970’s Civil Rights Movement. This article answers my essential question: What are some of the effects of youth activism? The Civil Rights Movement was almost entirely caused by the participation of youth hoping for a brighter future. When others read this article, I hope it offers them a new and insightful look upon the simple action of just standing up for yourself.