Princess: Teens on Target made me a leader

My name is Princess Paopao and I was a Youth Leader in Youth Alive’s Teens on Target (TNT) program at Castlemont High School in East Oakland.

When I started at TNT, I was an angry kid. I got into fights. I skipped class. To be real, I just didn’t care about anything.

But the mentors and my peers in the TNT program were so welcoming, it was easy to talk about sensitive topics, and about the violence I had experienced. TNT helped me gain confidence, and it challenged me.

I’ve led violence prevention workshops in middle school classrooms, teaching youth how to reduce gang and gun violence in their own lives. I’ve shared my story in public forums to help change policies to make Oakland safer.

Last fall, I was elected Student Body President and walked alongside my classmates—dressed in cap and gown. Before Youth Alive, I didn’t even think I would graduate. Now I’m a leader.

Youth Alive’s groundbreaking programs save lives by preventing violence before it happens, intervening in moments of crisis and healing the trauma violence leaves in its wake.

Shooting victims, families who have lost a loved one to violence, kids growing up under a cloud of trauma in Oakland, are our neighbors, our people, our future. Their suffering is our suffering, just as their healing can be our healing.