AT 24, Gavin Smith is the youngest member of a panel which will next week discuss the state of the black community in Bermuda.

In that it's a means of expessing his views - and those of his peers - to the community at large, it's a role he feels more people in his age group should take on.

"I think many young people in Bermuda don't get involved because they believe they're not seen as being necessary to the development of the community," he said. "But one of the reasons why I wanted to return to Bermuda was to be part of the national evolution, taking Bermuda from the old guard to the new guard.

"At the moment, the largest voting demographic is mine. It's largely believed that we were responsible for the Progressive Labour Party's (PLP) 1998 victory. (The) turnout in my age group was significantly larger than times before that.

"It's time to let (my peers) know their power; to let them know that they do have a choice. The lesson that we learned from that election was that we have a powerful voice and have to start shaping Bermuda into the image of what we want to see and what we feel we need."

Mr. Smith will sit with a group of panellists in the first of a series of public forums to take place at St. Paul's Centennial Hall on Wednesday, April 3. Black Agenda 2003, The State of the Black Community in Bermuda hopes to encourage residents to come along and express their views on the subject.

ACCORDING to Mr. Smith, he became involved in the project after he returned to the island last November. He followed his graduation from the Savannah College of Art and Design, with nearly two years in Colorado, from where he ran his own web design company. At present, he does freelance work as a graphic designer through his company, Subliminal Design Machine.

"Upon coming home, I was invited to work with the Grass Roots Alliance," he explained. "The Grass Roots Alliance is a recent amalgamation of a group of organisations which are not necessarily partisan based, and which are devoted to making a better Bermuda for everyone.

"My involvement, primarily, is strategising and implementing the design strategies for different companies involved in the Alliance. I believe they asked me to become involved because of my involvement with Chewstick."

An open microphone event for poets, writers, musicians, rappers, singers and any number of artistic talents, Chewstick meets every other Sunday at Champions Sports Bar on Reid Street. Mr. Smith, a musician, is one of the founding members.

"We're working at bolstering Bermuda's artists and providing outlets for artists in any media to hone their skills. Often in Bermuda, artists in the embryonic phase of development can't grow into mature, self-sustaining artists. Chewstick tries to provide them with a venue to (foster) the basic idea behind Chewstick - free expression.

"We also putting together a weekly supplement with This Week in Bermuda, which should be launched in June, mainly to give a localised perspective on Bermuda and the tourism industry. Most of the magazines and literature out there tend to approach Bermuda from a more archaic or tourist perspective.

"We're trying to provide the perspective of the youth. We want to take ownership of Bermuda. It's our country, we have a say and we are the future Bermuda."