YDEV 501 Blog post 11

 BLOG POST #11: What ideas here feel close like you can touch them? What ideas feel far away/ hard to wrap your mind around/ impossible? What does this have to do with youth work? With social justice? With your daily practice?

Many, if not most, of the ideas, are extremely important to make happen if we want an equitable world. It’s not a radical thing to name the issue. I believe the work can be done, and in the webinar, 3 black women advocate for this work.

The idea of abolishing schools feels so far from what we currently have. After the pandemic, we really saw things denied to us by schools, departments, and governments being given to us within the first few weeks: free wifi, laptops for students, food access, etc.

I agree with the idea that DEI positions are created to fill a quota for black and brown people. Still, I would argue that it makes a difference in spaces with more black and brown people who get a seat at the table and more opportunities for black and brown students to see BIPOC folks succeed.  

Abolitionist teaching needs to happen to remove cops and replace them with counselors, do away with standardized testing, and do away with messed up buildings centuries old.  We must reinvent the wheel, write the work from the start, create the curriculum, and tell the story as it was, not what they want us to show. 

All of this has to do with youth work, social justice, and my daily practice. The change we make in everything allows a domino effect in our lives. 

YDEV 501 Blog #10

 BLOG POST #10: Resonances/ Questions/Critiques

At Our Best Intro piece means the curiosity in which youth speak with conviction, courage, and conscientiousness. And I can answer that the reason is they know they can change the world, their own world. Youth organizing has been going on long before the efforts of the students from school shootings. Youth of color lead the movement with just big numbers because of the solidarity across intersections. I understand the article's intention of naming how and why the partnership from youth to adults impacts the work and effects of what we do. This involves acknowledging that, as adults, our role is to provide guidance and support to empower young people to reach their full potential.

Our responsibility lies in assisting them as they navigate the world, helping them understand their strengths and face their challenges. Creating a safe and nurturing environment facilitates their learning and growth. Adults have the experience of being youth, and youth will have the experience of being an adult soon enough.

Pegah's chapter was a reason to the questions the intro chapter asked. Pegah mentions, "For YIA, youth development means nurturing a brave space that is curated to provide practice and reflection for young people, so they may safely explore their development's cognitive and social/ emotional milestones."

YIA cares about the person as a whole. Being a non-profit organization, there is a need to measure what success and failures look like.

I would critique funders and people or groups that give grants, why can we not measure the conversations, the changes, the meetings, they are more impactful in our youth's lives.

NUA Blog Post #9 YDEV 501

BLOG POST #9: Resonances/ Questions/Critiques

Chillaxing chapter gave a story into the minds and processes of students who attended NUA throughout the years.

"Compression of youth" should have something to show for themselves as adults earlier in life. 

I have yet to entirely create a risk in my brain of youth arts and humanities programs like NUA; they become entangled in reproducing this social act, and young people should be more productive as creatives. Although all my creative friends have felt this rush of making it younger or else...

You tend to see youth non-profit organizations feel this need to demonstrate "impact" to show their attendees are not being "left behind." Putting pressure on the kids to fill a quota. The presence of Brown and RISD students unveiled a privileged and powerful cover among artists. The college students have the time, energy, and ability to volunteer, make art, etc., while the youth rush to build it all. 

The thought of an NUA allowing kids to join leave, how often or sparsely they wanted to participate, feels so far from the norm - the measurable growth pathway of an organization. But so what?! Open classroom education was excellent to learn about! Why do we question the value of independence and allowing youth to follow their pressure when concerning the poor and BIPOC community? Do they not deserve it? Is it fun, open, opportunity, freedom, etc.?

NUA's emerging priority of discussing and debating public events is advocacy. I had a "Frankie" at Onward who attended PCTA - I brought him to NUA to do just that: observe and act when it feels right- Shout out to Jobanny, who advised me to connect students in that way. 

Lunisol's quote of loving and talking can be more than enough - HIT MY SOUL. 

We should be able to use moments like the zen space to win grants, fundraising, etc.