Goal 16: Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions

Access to justice for all, and building effective, accountable institutions at all levels.

How is Dallas County supporting this goal?

Video Transcript:

Antoine Joyce, Dallas All Stars

[Music]

Antoine Joyce: Hi, my name is Antoine Joyce and I'm the city leader for the All Stars project of Dallas. How do we create a world where everyone can live in peace, no matter your background, age, gender? I have a simple answer.

Singer: …and you can find love…

Antoine Joyce: We perform. In the All Stars project we learn that everyone is a performer, and that includes all of you. Young people being applauded opens their hearts and their eyes to saying that I'm accepted and if I can be accepted on this stage, what else can I do? When a young person comes to me and they say, “I'm shy.” I say to them, well, we can perform someone who's not shy. When they say, I've never been to a business before, I can say to them, well we're gonna learn how to perform as a business professional. Eventually as you continue to practice these new performances you start to become not shy, you start to become that business professional.

At the development school for youth, business leaders from top companies all around the city lead workshops that help our young people see the world, relate to the world in new ways, young people learn how to perform as business professionals and they learn performances in the boardroom, how to write a resumé, how to shake someone's hand. After young people graduate from our program they're eligible for a paid summer internship. The internship not only provides them with a summer long practicum of learning how to perform as professionals in these business settings, but it matches them up with key contacts, they get to network with business leaders, and again they have a new experience in our city that they've never had before. It brings them into the mainstream of our society.

Performers rapping: …I said let’s go! Let’s go…let’s go! D.P.D…for sure…

Antoine Joyce: Operation Conversation Cops and Kids is the All Stars project's police community relations program that brings young people in our communities and police officers together.

Young girl: …and during the summer we have basketball camps…

Antoine Joyce: One thing that we do is community outreach, we have a young person and a police officer standing together…

Police officer: …but you can continue to be positive…

Antoine Joyce: …knocking on doors, inviting young people to be part of the All Stars after-school development programs. In the All Stars we're all about building bridges with people who are not normally together. Black and white, old and young, the community and the police. When they do something other than what they already know how to do, they create magic, they create new ways of being in the world with each other and they create peace and social justice.

 
Learn more about this goal from the UN