Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Publicity Contact: [email protected]
www.solidaritysummer.org
www.facebook.com/BayAreaSolidaritySummer

BUILDING SOUTH ASIAN YOUTH LEADERS:
Summer Camp to Empower California South Asian Youth

Berkeley, CA February 11, 2013 – Bay Area Solidarity Summer (BASS) invites progressive South Asian American youth to apply for its 3rd annual summer leadership camp. The camp aims to develop future South Asian American changemakers by cultivating organizing and critical thinking skills in a supportive environment. Participants will connect with current influential South Asian American leaders and learn about various issues of environmental and social justice.

Last year’s camp topics included addressing racism and sexism, environmental justice, and a visit to an art exhibit and hip-hop/tabla concert. UC Davis student Kriti Garg attended the camp and described it as an “amazing experience that politicized me as a South Asian American,” which “continues to provide me with motivation and support from my peers and organizers.” Many other BASS alumni call the program “inspiring” and “life-changing.”

“My son had a great experience at BASS,” says Jyoti Khera of San Jose, the mother of a BASS participant, who appreciates how the program is “grooming today's kids to be tomorrow's activists and leaders! BASS is a unique platform to engage youth into constructive politics, for widening their horizons, giving them some hands-on experience and education into history, human rights issues, and the law. It also enables them to be more independent, and to bond with their peers and the people they meet at the camp.”

The camp is open to youth 15 to 21 years of age and of South Asian heritage. The program costs only $50 for five days of instruction, meals, and housing at a historic hotel in Berkeley – scholarships are available for those with financial need. For more information or to apply, please visit www.SolidaritySummer.org. Applications received by March 31 will receive first priority. Volunteers and donations for the camp are also needed.

Bay Area Solidarity Summer is developed by a highly-skilled volunteer group of South Asian American organizers and activists working to support the development of young leaders. The camp is a project of the Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA), an all-volunteer organization founded in 2000 working to educate, organize, and empower Bay Area South Asians

High-resolution photos are available, and both organizers and alumni are available for interviews.

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