Activist Betty Yu Inspires breaking walls – Brooklyn

During our breaking walls Brooklyn “Hub” Workshops we more than often have intense dialogues. This is due to the in depth conversations that we have with one another about a variety of things ranging from school, societal issues, even food. These conversations help us get to know each other and provide us with an understanding of the world from someone else’s point of view.

In our last workshop we had special guest – Betty Yu. Betty is an outspoken activist that invests her time to fighting against social injustices. Betty spoke about her beginnings in activism that was ignited from her parents’ struggles within the garment industry’s sweatshops that inevitably directly affected her. She was able to use her voice to create coalitions within her community to fight against discrimination on varying platforms. One of those platforms includes the arts. She uses the arts to capture the struggles that we face everyday and she also uses it as a tool to give agency to other artists.

Meeting Betty Yu was a motivating and inspirational experience. The biggest impact that she had within the workshop was sharing details on how to make a change as high school students. More than often children/teens are put down because we are perceived to be naive, confused, reckless, etc. These perceptions disempower youth from becoming actively involved in reshaping the world we live in. Betty Yu’s advice provided us with guidance on the ways we can start own activism. By the end of the workshop there was common understanding that we cannot stay complacent with the way things, rather we must take control of our future and shape into a desirable place for everyone.

On behalf of the breaking walls Brooklyn artists – thank you, Betty!

by Britani Frazier