A Farewell to Ariel
Dear CYAP community,
Over the last year, we have been preparing for Ariel Eure’s transition beyond the Carolina Youth Action Project. We are so excited for the possibilities and the spaciousness that Ariel will be able to engage with as they move on from this role. As the Political Education Organizer from 2017 to 2020, Ariel established a long legacy of love at CYAP! We celebrate all they have done, everything that they have created, and the fullness of who they are and continue to be, as they embark onto a new journey.
Makayla Greene, a Youth Leader who became involved with CYAP in 2018, shares and honors how Ariel has impacted her personally:
“I thank you for being an essence of light for me. You have helped me in ways that I am eternally grateful for. You’ve taught me how to take up space freely and unapologetically in terms of setting boundaries and voicing my needs. Thank you for your help and kindness. I wish you the best of luck and continued success wherever you may find yourself.”
Much love to you Ariel! We’re so grateful for your mentorship, creativity, and brilliance that you’ve brought to this work.
- The CYAP Core Team
A letter from Ariel:
Beloved community,
I am glad to have been able to contribute to such a necessary and powerful abolitionist youth organization over the last three and a half years. My time on the core team has been so beautiful, meaningful, and transformative. And, with all the work I’ve taken on, it has also been difficult, stressful, and tiring. I am feeling called to rest, to tend to my spirit, to care for myself, and to prioritize my own wellness in ways I have actively resisted and avoided in the past. To do so, I have spent the last year preparing to move out of my role as CYAP’s Political Education Organizer.
Though I am transitioning off of the core team, I continue to deeply believe in and support CYAP’s work. I love that CYAP exists as a practice space, a place to create, to re-imagine, to affirm and be affirmed, to connect and collaborate, to ask questions, to make mistakes, to fail, to try again, to hold ourselves accountable, to honor our resilience. Our core team members, youth leaders, fellows, volunteers, and supporters are all doing the work of building the world we want to live in. As I move out of my role, I want to offer sweet gratitude for all the relationships I built during the three plus years I spent strengthening CYAP’s shape and structure.
To D’Ondra, Julie, Markelle, Ophelia, and Tessa: It has been a true blessing to grow, learn, laugh, struggle, and celebrate with you. I’m proud of you. I’m rooting for you. I’m grateful for you. Please remember this work we do is healing work. Thank you for tending the lush and divine garden that CYAP has become.
To every youth leader I’ve been blessed to know: I’m in awe of your brilliance, vulnerability, and tenderness. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for asking questions. Thank you for helping me move into deeper alignment with my values. It has been an honor to care for you and witness your growth. I also want to offer abundant love to the youth leaders who have been holding it down since I began this journey in 2017: Allenia, Danjai, Empress, Tybalt, Maggie, Peyton, Presley, Sage, and Syn.
To every fellow, volunteer, and supporter I have had the pleasure of working alongside: the time and energy you’ve offered CYAP is invaluable. I see you. I appreciate you. Thank you for continuing to show up and show out year after year. You love energizes and sustains our work.
I am moving into the next stage of my life with curiosity and immense joy in my heart. During my time of rest, I plan to write, roller skate, travel, learn to play the fiddle, sing, reconnect with people I love, and live my best Black queer anti-capitalist big earring wearing auntie life.
I remain committed to building power among girls, trans youth, and gender nonconforming youth in the South. I offer all the folks involved with CYAP’s work so much ease, patience, bliss, and breath. I look forward to staying connected and cheering on CYAP in the years to come.
In community,
Ariel
Ariel and Makayla smile beside one another. Makayla holds a paper plate award that says “widening wingspan award” that is blue and purple, with a butterfly on it.
A zoom screenshot of the core team (from left to right: Julie, Tessa, Ophelia, D’Ondra, Markelle, Ariel) arranged around a zoom screen that presents the CYAP altar