 Mississippi Free Press Editorial Assistant Kiden Aloyse-Smith facilitates a discussion by the 2025 Mississippi Youth Media Project student journalists on health access and disparities in the news organization’s downtown Jackson newsroom. Photo by Torsheta Jackson, Mississippi Free Press by Kiden-Aloyse Smith This time last year, I started working with Mississippi Youth Media Project students. I had just graduated from Jackson State University with no clue what I wanted to do. I debated film school, communications, journalism—spoiler alert, I’m starting my MBA in Marketing studies this fall. But my love for journalism and writing in general had somewhat fallen short until I met these students. For context, I began journalism my junior year of high school after I experienced an intense and very public racial incident my freshman year. A staffer from the school newspaper came to me asking to cover my story and then later told me that the story was cut from publication. I was devastated. I thought that I would finally get the chance to tell the truth instead of the version that protected the reputation of my school. I figured if they won’t tell my story, I would do it myself. This desire was heightened even more when I noticed Black students were only covered to talk about the achievement gap in a report that explored all the reasons Black students were not achieving academically well compared to white students. This often leaves out the lack of Black teachers, bigotry, racism and Black students being left out of AP and honors classes, unless they heavily advocated for it. And truthfully, how can you get an education when your own teacher doesn’t think you deserve it? Once I joined the paper, writing became a sense of survival, but it quickly became draining to be the voice of my people. Once I got to my HBCU, the need for survival melted away, and I could just be. In some ways, I’d argue that's the whole purpose of an HBCU: a safe space to get an education, where you can just exist freely. However, I lost some of the spark that made me want to write. ‘They Uplift and Help Each Other’ So when I met the YMP group last year, my desire to tell stories came full-circle. I'm working with them again this year, further strengthening why I fell in love with storytelling to begin with. The students at the Youth Media Project are by far some of the brightest young minds I have ever met. When I hear these kids talk, I see myself in them—someone wondering why systems were set up the way they are, ready to break them, bend them and unpack them. These students are doing the work. This summer, YMP is focusing on health access and disparities. They are covering topics like maternal mortality rate, men’s mental health, apathy in the health-care field and even improvements in mental health for Black women. They have been researching, asking the hard questions, interviewing and storytelling. They have shown and proven that if the future is in their hands, we have hope. Everything will be alright. Seeing the way these students interact with each other with such care and kindness warms my heart. They uplift and help each other out. Some of our YMP students from last year came back to serve as mentors for our new students. They explore complex systems and push stories along. Young People Need Community Support Oftentimes, it’s easy to write off teenagers. All too often, I’ve heard (and even participated) in conversations about media over-consumption and that the babies can’t read. Although these are all valid points, the idea of “it takes a village” is something that is now lost. What these young people need most is community support. One of our YMP parents from last year expressed at this year’s orientation how after YMP, her daughter was able to express herself better, and another parent said she didn’t even realize how aware her daughter was of politics. These young minds need that space. It’s easy to write kids and teenagers off because of their lack of life experience, but I believe they are able to see the state of the world in its rawest form. I’m truly honored to be able to work with and teach these students everyday, and I’m inspired by their dedication, tenacity and determination. I’m excited to share their projects through our social-media pages (Instagram, Facebook and Bluesky) and on their website, jxnpulse.com where their work will appear in upcoming weeks. (While you’re there, read about the seven national awards the 2024 YMP students won for their journalism.). Please stay tuned to see the amazing work of these students on Jxnpulse.com and follow them on facebook, bluesky, youtube and instagram. And I encourage you, if you have any young folks in your life; pour into them, pick their brain, allow them space to share and listen deeply. I promise you will be thoughtfully surprised. You can donate to the Youth Media Project here. (Please note in the comments if the donation should go directly to the project.) The W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Community Foundation for Mississippi provide major funding for the Mississippi Youth Media Project.
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