Performance by Suzanne Lacy, Julio Morales, Jidan Koon, Lou Ann Lucke, Rosa Chavez, and video workshop taught by Nicole Hickman (Oakland 2000)

After the Code 33 performance, students at Fremont High School, an overpopulated public school in the Fruitvale district approached youth team leaders to request a similar performance at their school that would focus on clearing the air between students, staff, and teachers. Dennis Chaconas, then Superintendent of Oakland Schools, sponsored the project with staff time and school site communications. Eye 2 Eye was created by a team of students and consisted of a series of three facilitated conversations in May 2000 involving over 100 faculty, students, and staff. Participants were divided into small groups, each led by a facilitator, to discuss problems and issues facing the school. The first two meetings were private.

The goal of the final conversation on May 24, open to the public as a performance, was to come up with recommendations for action on previously identified problems. Colorful t-shirts, banners, video monitors, and a live DJ program brought youth to the outdoor quad in the middle of the school. As groups reached consensus, problems and recommendations were recorded on blackboards posted at the perimeters of the event and later presented to the Superintendent. For a synopsis of their findings click here.

A fifteen-minute documentary videotape of this event was created by the Code 33 youth production team, led by Hickman. To order, click here.