Kendra Van De Water has always been passionate about helping youth.
The CEO and co-founder of YEAH Philly, Van De Water says the organization’s mission is to inform and support Black youth in West and Southwest Philadelphia who have been charged with a violent crime in the legal system. (YEAH stands for Youth Empowerment for Advancement Hangout.)
“A lot of our services are holistic support, and the goal is to help young people become self-sufficient and stay in the community with services instead of being incarcerated,” she said. “We do a whole bunch of different things, such as educational programming, skills and employment programming, our court program, which provides private representation and court advocacy, and we have a hangout space for young people to come and get support with things that they need.”
One of YEAH Philly’s newest initiatives is a comic book – but not your standard comic. Instead of superheroes and supervillains, this comic’s characters are police officers, judges and young people. Van De Water explained that it’s an attempt to explain the complexity and nuance of interacting with law enforcement and the criminal justice system in a format that youth can relate to.
“So the comic book [came from the idea that] knowing your rights with interactions and law enforcement is a lot of information,” she said. “And, oftentimes, it’s too much information for young people and for anyone, adults as well. And if you don’t know the law, or if you’re not in this work every day, you’re not always going to know what to do.
“So this is a way to help young people learn tough information and put great graphics in it, and write stories in their language.”
The book
Because the youth that YEAH Philly serves have been involved in the legal system, they face unique challenges. Van De Water said navigating these situations – including interactions with law enforcement – can be difficult.
“The comic book stems from our work in the juvenile system, and we have always done trainings around knowing your rights when it comes to police interactions, because a lot of things come up when you have a case in the legal system and you don’t always understand what’s happening,” she said.
The comic book addresses various situations youth may find themselves in.
“What do you do when you’re under arrest?” she asked. “Are you able to film the police? What happens during traffic stops and Terry stops [temporary detentions by police]? What happens during police misconduct? With all of these things, what can you do?
“What do you do when cops come to your door and they’re saying that they have a warrant or they don’t have a warrant? Are police able to search your car? So it’s all of these different scenarios in there.”
She said centering youthful characters and how they talk can help readers picture themselves in these situations and feel more equipped to handle them.
“The language in there stems from young people,” she said. “How do they talk? How do they have conversations? And the scenarios in there are real-life situations that happen.”
The comic book has a glossary, which explains terms so youth better understand them.
While focused on youth, Van De Water said it can be of use to people of all ages and backgrounds.
“This is another way for people to improve the education for young folks around a topic that’s ever-growing and happening every single day,” she said. “And so we encourage people of all ages – you don’t have to be a young person to buy or read the comic book. We encourage everyone to take a read.”
The future
Moving forward, YEAH Philly has plans for more books, including a workbook to accompany the comic book and other comics about law enforcement in schools and questions around court cases.
“Once you have your court case, what does that mean for you?” she said. “What is that process? You’re going through these different things, so what does a certain situation mean? What do certain words mean?”
“At the end of the day, young people should really know what’s happening with their legal situation and their legal case, and they’ll be able to help be a part of it and ask for things that they need,” she added.
It’s all at the heart of the philosophy that guides YEAH Philly – ensuring youth are an active part of their own interaction with the legal system and understanding their rights.
“That’s what we want at YEAH Philly, we want young people to be a part of what they’re supposed to be,” she said. “Whether they’re in the legal system or not, they have every right to get their needs met.”
Know Your Rights comic books can be found here.