Interview with Youth Activist Dallas Jessup
Just Yell Fire Founder and Young Revolutionaries Who Rock Author
May 7, 2009
Dallas Jessup was only fourteen when she combined her experience in Tae Kwon Do and Filipino Street Fighting with her passion for helping other girls protect themselves from violent predators. The result? Her film, Just Yell Fire, which teaches young girls basic street fighting techniques, has been seen by hundreds of thousands of girls and was one of the most downloaded films of 2007.
Recently, Suite101 had the opportunity to talk to Dallas about her book, Young Revolutionaries Who Rock and her work making the world a better place.
Dallas Jessup Provides Blueprint for Aspiring Youth Activists
Suite 101: You are already a very successful producer and youth activist. What prompted you to want to add “writer” to your resume?
DJ: I thought I was unique or lucky with the worldwide success of the Just Yell Fire project but I was wrong. At awards ceremonies, nonprofit boot camps and elsewhere I ran into kids that had their own amazing projects that were affecting millions here in the U.S. and around the world. Many of them weren't getting the amount of media attention we had for Just Yell Fire and I wanted them to get into the spotlight so people could find out about their work too.
Also, so many kids I've met in my travels have good ideas for their own world-changing projects and they just need to know where to start. Young Revolutionaries Who Rock is a blueprint for creating a cool, fun, high-impact project. It also shows them the cool lifestyle that follows: In one two-week period I was fighting slave traffickers in India, was a nominee at the Teen Choice Awards with all the celebrity Hollywood events that go with it, was featured on literally millions of Doritos bags, and got to teach some Middle School girls that they had power and the right to stand up for themselves.
Dallas Jessup Highlights Fellow Youth Activists
Suite 101: You profile several amazing young people in your book. Which of them left the biggest impression on you, and why?
DJ: It's tough to pick the biggest impression but Pat Pedraja stands out; a 13 year old cancer survivor who sold ads on his bald head during chemo treatments to raise awareness for the bone marrow donor program. He's built that into a national program and is responsible for the growth of the bone marrow registry among minorities by about 30% nationwide! Jeremy Dias was bullied by kids at school and teachers for being different; he converted that pain into a national organization putting a stop to bullying and promoting tolerance. Chad Bullock took on and beat Big Tobacco in his home state. They're all amazing.
Self-Promotion for Youth Activists
Suite 101: Your book is an inspiration for other young people who want to make a difference in the world. Do you have any suggestions for young people who may also be interested in writing a book?
One of the ways to make a bigger difference in the world is to write a book. If you're emotionally invested in a project you want everyone everywhere to be involved; you speak, you do television, radio, and print interviews, you make and distribute videos on You Tube, you Twitter and the next logical step is to write a book. A publisher found me and I'm sure one will find any young person who's making an impact; the rest is just writing like at school - only more.
Helping Kids Find Their Cause
Suite 101: In your book you talk about how young people can find a cause they believe in. If your cause was something other than helping girls protect themselves from violence, what would it be, and why?
DJ: There are many great causes, but I always tell teenagers to find something that makes them angry: hungry kids, bullying, a disease that doesn't have a cure...what makes me angry beyond predators targeting the weakest members of our society is that most schools don't teach about the coolness of volunteerism. Teenagers have the time to change the world because they don't have many other responsibilities. I believe teenagers are all hardwired for activism; and I believe it is the responsibility of schools and also parents to help kids find what's important to them and then help them along the path of making a difference. There are a thousand kids out there making big impacts and it should be a million. Everyone is entitled to learn the joy of helping. We've got to open that door and parents and schools are the key.
Dallas Jessup is using what she has learned from her very successful program Just Yell Fire to inspire other would-be youth activists to get involved making their world a better place. Learn more about Young Revolutionaries Who Rock, or read another interview with Dallas Jessup regarding her Just Yell Fire film.
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