FFLIC’s entrepreneurial young female members formally launched their own leadership group, Black Girls Rising (BGR) in 2017-2018 inspired by the success of Black Man Rising, a spinoff mentorship group of former FFLIC youth. BGR is a group of young women, ages 11-21, mainly whose families were impacted by youth incarceration. Many of our BGR youth have participated in FFLIC’s leadership development programs since they were children, and they launched the #NoMorePrisons campaign in May 2021 at the State Capital of Louisiana.

Together, with their counterpart, Black Man Rising, FFLIC offers youth authentic leadership opportunities where their voices are at the forefront, where they can hone skills and develop new strategies in partnership with experienced adults and other young people across the US, and where they can become community changemakers through self-determination and employment. In turn, FFLIC contributes to the field by developing adult leaders who have spun off their own organizations. Youth hold dreams for the future of a world without prisons, and FFLIC helps them realize their vision. Our former youth members are taking the lead to develop new generations of youth leaders. 

For example, FFLIC’s Youth Organizing Team (YOT) has been made up of former Black Girls Rising and Black Man Rising founders and members. This powerful team has successfully developed and presented peer trainings in New Orleans, leading statewide direct actions for our former #NoKidsInAngola to keep kids out of the notoriously inhumane adult prison and our current #NoMorePrisons campaign. They also launched a new podcast called “The Gray Area,” and published Op Eds and articles in major national/international media outlets including The Guardian, USA Today, and The Marshall Project. They now hold full-time leadership roles and are responsible for planning and implementation of all youth activities and youth campaigns.