Category: Uncategorized
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On the Year in Review
Photo by the incredible and ever-talented zrbuck.com It’s been quite a year for me, 2022–I moved into a home in New Orleans after being on the road for the majority of 2020 and 2021, I recommitted myself to writing poetry after my third attempt at being a novelist (trololol), I performed as an actor with…
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On Tragedy As Told by Young People
Photo somewhere in the southwest area of Central Park circa 2019 “So, do you wanna know what nine eleven is? Or was?” I’m taking lunch on the sunny back porch of the ALC I work at these days and I overhear this conversation between two young people. One of them is holding a screen in…
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On Everday Utopias
This image shows a sticker given to me and made by Farley and you can get your own here! I tried to interview more kids about how they like their self-directed learning center recently but got very few responses. I learned firsthand how even journalistic writing can be a reflection of what the writer is…
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On An Interview from Dat School
I went to a gala performance that featured original dance material by some young adults in high school. The focus of their work was on their mental health during the pandemic–scenes of childlike dances that turned into stunted awkward navigating and seat-bound screen scrolling. The program they passed around showed alarming statistics on the correlation…
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On SDE as Anti-Oppression Work
This photo was taken at the 2020 BLM protests in NYC by my dear friend, Rev Alison Schuettinger of Alison Lee Photography. Find more of her work at her Instagram, @alisonleebk Preface: I’m open to and encourage any and all feedback on this post and my approach to it. Please and thank you! I’m listening…
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On What to Believe
I’ve had a handful of conversations with young people in SDE spaces on topics most folks would find taboo. Recently, I’ve been talking regularly with them on such topics as gender identity, sex and sexuality, wealth, power, and poverty. It might start with something as simple as a comment calling someone a girl who is…
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On Collaboration and Failure
I asked my partner who is a photographer for an image that he considers an “epic fail.” This is what he gave me (though I find it captivating as hellllll). Zrbuck.com “I can’t do it.” The furrowed brow of this young person, we’ll call them Rickie, zeroed in on me. “It,” the art project, which…
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On Liberation Work
“I think it’s funny when grown ups don’t think it’s the other grown up.” I laughed along, grateful to be in on the joke despite being legally considered a member of the offending party, “can you elaborate?” “Grown ups only blame the kids.” The young person talking to me went on to explain how funny…
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On Life Work
“I have to do school work today.” That’s what a young person I tutor in reading and writing told me while we were nearing the end of our session. To say they seemed unenthused is an understatement. They were absolutely dreading whatever “school work” meant. “Oh, do you mean like this?” I asked, curiously. “Oh…
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On Belonging
A young person, let’s call them Ellie (not their name), who attends the school at which I facilitate, wanted to throw a prom. It was a nice idea, let’s all get fancy and dancy and have fun together, until no one else wanted to go. Ellie was distraught–“no one wants to be my friend, they…
Madi Learns 