Associated Leaders of Urban Debate (ALOUD) seeks to make debate available to more youth with a particular focus on underserved communities ^[1]. ALOUD represents a national network of partner programs all with a dedication to debate and youth expression. ALOUD’s mission is to help young people discover the power of their own words and develop their ability to direct and change their lives through competitive, curricular and community debate.

History

Launched in October 2005^[2], ALOUD arose out of a gathering of leading urban debate thinkers, lawyers and stakeholders. The organization's initial partners included the City University of New York, Emory University, New York University, the Atlanta Urban Debate League, the Baltimore Urban Debate League and the IMPACT Coalition. Will Baker, CEO of IMPACT Coalition and overseer of IMPACT's New York Urban Debate League (NYUDL) became ALOUD's first Executive Director in September of that year. ALOUD extended invitations to programs using other forms of debate, civic engagement, reasoned discourse, hip-hop, and public speaking. With the additions of the Hip Hop Summit Youth Council and Critical Exposure, there are more than 30 organizational partners (including most urban debate leagues) serving over 200,000 young people^[3] .

The venture expanded to colleges interested in new models of debate (e.g. digital debates, community debates) led by the Baltimore College Debate Initiative, the Austin Urban Debate League, New York University, the University of Vermont and Emory University who were soon followed by schools in Eastern Europe and Russia making ALOUD a global network. Partners of ALOUD also oversaw the development of more traditional debate leagues in Miami, Nashville, Milwaukee as well as new debate communities in Tacoma and Columbus.

Debate Communities

ALOUD forms what are called debate communities by working with partners in a given municipality who wish to support debate. The lead partners can be school systems, universities, government agencies, or community-based organizations.^[4] The debate community might engage in policy debate (as in the case of newly-formed UDLs), other competitive debate formats or as part of a school curriculum or class. Each form can be supplemented by public debate activities.

References

^ World Science Festival Board of Directors ALOUD's objective as mentioned in a bio about John Sexton, a board member of the ALOUD.
^ The Urban Educator ALOUD's founding date “The Urban Educator,” vol. 15, no. 23, pp. 7-8, 2006.
^ Hip Hop Youth Summit ALOUD partners in total work with more than 200,000 students. The Hip Hop Youth Summit alone has worked with over 200,000 youth as noted in the Founder's, Charles V. K. Fisher, Bio. 18 April, 2006.
^ American Forensics Association ALOUD's aim as stated by the American Forensics Association 18 April, 2006.

External links

The Associated Leaders of Urban Debate website
The National Debate Project website
The Global Debate Blog
The Impact Coalition website
The Baltimore Urban Debate League website

[1] World Science Festival Board of Directors ALOUD's objective as mentioned in a bio about John Sexton, a board member of the ALOUD.

[2] The Urban Educator ALOUD's founding date “The Urban Educator,” vol. 15, no. 23, pp. 7-8, 2006.

[3] Hip Hop Youth Summit ALOUD partners in total work with more than 200,000 students. The Hip Hop Youth Summit alone has worked with over 200,000 youth as noted in the Founder's, Charles V. K. Fisher, Bio. 18 April, 2006.

[4] American Forensics Association ALOUD's aim as stated by the American Forensics Association 18 April, 2006.

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