My name is Camilo Castillo. I\u2019m 21 years old and a young person of African descent from northern Cauca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a long time, I believed that leadership came when someone recognized you\u2014when an institution gave you a position, a certification, or a project. As if, before that, there was only potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But growing up in Padilla, Villa Rica, and Santander de Quilichao, I came to understand something else. I saw women leading community initiatives without receiving recognition. I saw young people organizing activities for their neighborhoods without a budget. I saw people sustaining community life without appearing in any statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s where I learned that leadership doesn\u2019t begin when someone gives you permission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, I lead the Aqu\u00ed Somos Vocesssss Corporation and coordinate Nisikilize, a network of young Afro-descendant communicators. Through these spaces, we discuss identity, Afro-conscious masculinities, social justice, peace, and caring for nature. But beyond producing content or developing projects, we strive for something simpler and more profound: to demonstrate that our voices have value even when no one is listening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s where I learned that leadership doesn\u2019t begin when someone gives you permission.<\/p>\n<\/div>
I\u2019ve seen young people who were ignored by the system find a place here to speak from who they are. I\u2019ve seen conversations transform relationships, challenge violence, and open up possibilities that seemed impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s why it worries me when we believe that our worth depends solely on institutional validation\u2014as if we only exist when we obtain a position, a scholarship, or funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The leadership I know was born long before any of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was born on the ground. In the community. In the everyday decision to care for others, organize, resist, and build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The power of young people of African descent is not a future project. It is not a promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is something that already exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The challenge is not to create it. It is to learn to see it.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Me llamo Camilo Castillo, tengo 21 a\u00f1os y soy un joven afrodescendiente del norte del Cauca. Durante mucho tiempo cre\u00ed que el liderazgo llegaba cuando alguien te reconoc\u00eda. Cuando una instituci\u00f3n te daba un cargo, una certificaci\u00f3n o un proyecto. Como si antes de eso solo existiera el potencial. Pero creciendo entre Padilla, Villa Rica…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1669,"template":"","class_list":["post-1667","altavoz","type-altavoz","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextgenc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/altavoz\/1667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextgenc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/altavoz"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextgenc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/altavoz"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextgenc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nextgenc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/altavoz\/1667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1670,"href":"https:\/\/nextgenc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/altavoz\/1667\/revisions\/1670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextgenc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextgenc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}