Project Update: We are excited to announce that CUP's Board has pledged to match all donations for 48 hours starting on June 27th! During that time any donation will be fully matched up to a total of $5,650. Make a donation today a double your impact! 

What if hanging out with your friends could get you arrested? Who gets prosecuted for "gang" participation? 

Fifteen high school students will investigate that issue this summer, with your help! Join us in making this summer youth education project possible!

Why is this issue important?

Summer is here again! Time for kids to enjoy time with friends, hang out at the park, pool, or just around the neighborhood. But for many low-income teens of color, those basic activities are used to justify arrest at alarming rates. Conspiracy Laws--originally used to bring down organized crime like the mafia--are being used by NYPD to police youth and charge them with "gang involvement", simply because of who they know. 

"I think this is important to the youth we work with because "guilt by association" is a term they use frequently. If their friend or someone [they know] does something wrong and they happen to know, hear, or be associated with them, why is it that they can get into trouble? Why is it they are characterized as being gang affiliated?"

-Sabrina Carter, Associate Director of Youth and Community Programs, Red Hook Community Justice Center

What is the project?

CUP is partnering with the amazing Red Hook Community Justice Center to take students out of the classroom and into the city to ask—and answer—tough questions about how the city works.

The students will learn how to be investigative journalists, interviewing a broad range of stakeholders — from elected officials to criminal justice advocates to communities impacted by policing. They will learn technical skills and work with a CUP Teaching Artist to create a project that explains what they learned to their community and peers.

Most importantly, students will learn that the places where they live are the products of decision-making, and that they can talk to decision-makers themselves and hold them accountable. 

What will I receive for participating?

• Listing on the CUP website and in the CUP email newsletter.
• Regular updates on the project with messages from the students on what they are up to in the program.
• An invitation to the final public presentation of the project where you can meet the students.
• Five free copies of the final printed booklet that you helped make possible.

If you donate more than $500, you will also be listed as a supporter on the final printed booklet.