TOWARDS LIBERATION!

 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?

In A Letter to Teachers: On Teaching Love and Learning Freedom, there were many things that felt close, but at the same time felt out of my reach because one person can't do it all. It takes a community to work together to move forward. I certainly understood that "classroom management is not a technical or a mechanical skill; it is deeply relational."I recall my first year of teaching and often times feeling the needs to pull students aside to talk to them to find out what was going on with them that was leading to misbehaviors and outbursts. However, the thought would go away when I realized I couldn't do that simply because I had to be in the front of the classroom teaching. Because of this I often found myself not being able to create a relationship with the students. As the teacher, I couldn't find the time to sit down and get to know them leading me to realize by the end of the year that teaching was not the field I wanted to be in. I strongly believe that when a community works together and with love better results come out of that. Children need to feel like they belong and are a part of the day to day things. We often hear people say, put yourself in other people's shoes, and while sometimes you actually can't I think that what this is really trying to say is that if you lead with love you would be more understanding of people's situation, even if you have never experienced it yourself. This kind of thinking leads to people being able to feel loved, free and good no matter how big the situation may be. It would change outcomes of situations and people, in my opinion, would lead the world in a better direction. This would also create spaces were people feel safe and welcomed and allow the community to be more progressive & happy.

Cosmic Possibilities: An Intergalactic Youth Guide to Abolition

"If you didn’t have to worry about meeting basic needs (such as rent, food, etc.), what dreams would you actively pursue?"

I would create a space for all children to feel loved and like they rule this world. When this class first started I remember saying that if we viewed the world the way children did, we would be in a world full of love and respect. Children should be leading this world not adult because clearly there is a misconnection between a world of love and adults. A world full of laughter and silly moments that also create bonds and growth for all.