Hello! My name is Trisha Young, and I am excited to be joining the Neighborhood News Service family here in Milwaukee. I will be covering health issues in the communities NNS serves.
A bit about me:
I graduated from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2019, shortly before the pandemic, with a degree in film, animation and new genres. Like many others, I experienced personal and external challenges post-graduation in a world of isolation and disquiet.
Staying informed
Writing had become an ever-increasing comfort to me. Providing even more comfort: keeping informed of the world around me via independent news organizations that were interested in sharing non-traditional points of views. These were a necessity for unsure times, then and now.
This is when I first became acquainted with NNS, which covered COVID-19 issues and the very topical protests occurring all around our communities. I had seen trends of many other news organizations that very specifically chose which stories and points of view they would not cover while other views were repeated and glamorized.
This kind of interest began early. Since I was about 14, I have been taking part in organizing efforts in my hometown, Racine.
In high school, I joined Youth Empowered in the Struggle, or Y.E.S.
‘Power in my voice’
As a teenager, I realized there was power in my voice. More importantly, there was an avenue I could use to channel that voice, which I saw as integral as the daughter of an Asian immigrant growing up in a largely working class and disenfranchised city.
Truly listening to my Black, brown and financially burdened peers changed the way I would see the world and cemented my commitment to use my own privilege to help where I could.
During this time, I helped organize Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day Y.E.S. fought to be recognized by Racine Unified School District, or RUSD.
I also helped craft a new RUSD student handbook that would offer greater protections and rights to students. On a state level, our efforts included attempting to gain in-state college tuition for immigrants and driver’s licenses for all regardless of status.
You can’t win every battle
In college, I organized for UWM to continue to be a sanctuary campus. Our student group also campaigned against the university buying furniture that was manufactured using the labor of incarcerated people of Wisconsin.
In 2017, while studying abroad in Berlin, I covered the rise of neo-Nazis both in the United States and Germany for my school’s newspaper.
I learned many valuable lessons in not only working with students but also school administrations and state representatives in getting our needs met.
I learned that, while you will not win every battle, it is possible to change the hearts and minds of some.
Connecting our communities
And that always starts with sharing a story.
Making people understand the struggles their neighbors, friends, family and community members face is where change begins.
Because these stories are so often overlooked, people are compelled when they see and hear things that everyday people go through when they do come into contact with them.
And I learned that those connections are some of the strongest tools we have as writers, creators and organizers.
Getting to the bottom of the questions of why people act and interact the way they do is an integral piece of humans being able to understand one another. This allows people to use their own agency in strengthening their communities.
A privilege I don’t take lightly
And it’s why I feel privileged to work with NNS, an institution that I see as sharing those core values of lifting up the voices of members in our own community.
Though my background may not be typical of the average reporter or journalist, I am hoping I can use my experiences as a strength to bring a new perspective to NNS.
I plan to focus not only on examining issues but also on addressing obtainable solutions to fix problem areas our community faces.
I look forward to putting my skills as a trained filmmaker and documentarian to help better tell the stories that need to be told through a multitude of mediums and platforms.
And more than anything, I am excited to become a more active member in Milwaukee’s neighborhoods and meet those making a difference here in our city.
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