Member spotlight

Lori Young
Polk County

What got you involved with CCI? What keeps you engaged/motivated? Who are you fighting for? 

"Justice and fairness are my top personal values. I have always considered myself a "rebel without a cause". I always wished I had been a young adult in the 1960s or 1970s. I would have been a marching, big afro-wearing, fist-in-the-air, activist! How amazing it would have been to be part of those sweeping racial and social justice movements for civil and human rights, racial equity, women's liberation, etc. But I was only a kid at the time. 

I was introduced to Iowa CCI by a friend back around 2006 or so. One of our first campaigns I really got involved in was the fight to keep a grocery store open on the north side of Des Moines. That grocery store is still here today. I’ve been involved in many of our campaigns over the years since then, most recently with our work to combat racial profiling by the police.

We fight for the underdog, the disenfranchised, the small family farmer, the racially-profiled young Black man, the uninsured, the blue collar worker, the new immigrant filled with dreams, clean water, a fair living wage, well-funded and free public schools. IMPORTANT STUFF!  We're about people over profit and politics. We're about improving our communities, improving people's lives, because we understand that we all do better when we ALL do better. 

So here I am nearly 20 years later, still standing strong with my CCI peeps, hoping and working for a better Iowa for ALL! What keeps me motivated is that our community still has too many unresolved social and political issues - the work is not done. And we don't give up. I won't give up. The victories we've had came slow and with great personal sacrifice, yet they keep me inspired. What we do at Iowa-CCI makes a difference.”