Stream of Consciousness 002: Reflecting

I began writing this post on the evening of Tuesday March 23rd; as background noise I have the Public School Board meeting streaming live via their YouTube channel. As I’m zoning in and out of community testimonials from parents eloquently expressing their displeasure and uncertainty around the proposed return to in person schooling. Educators are not shy about the anxiety being shared; mainly due to what feels like a rushed plan to return to schooling. There’s a few advocates of returning; but the desire to restore social voids are outweighed by safety concerns that still linger from the Covid-19 virus.

It has been over a calendar year since we’ve been in a pandemic and I was looking for ways to acknowledge the eerie milestone in a way that wasn’t just a timeline of shit that happened since March 13th of last year. Pre-pandemic I literally would engage with hundreds of people on a daily basis and since we’ve officially went into ‘lockdown’ its been awkward engagements and non stop zoom calls.

It began to dawn on me just how different this year has been in how I get to work with young people; so I’ll give a rundown of what my day looked like prior to the lockdown.

ART START PORTRAIT PROJECT | CREATIVE SESSION

The ART START Portrait Project; or the #SEEMEBECAUSE exhibit was a collaboration between NY based Art org ART START and the Black & Latino Male Achievement Office of MPS; of the 8 or so sites that BLMA has programming; we were the only site to have the opportunity to do 2 consecutive ART START cohorts. No question one of the dopest experiences I get to be a part of; we took 10 boys and go through a series of creative stations that are really peeling back layers to get at the core of who these young men truly are and who they aspire to be. The project is aimed to re-imagine how black and brown young men are viewed by society through the sharing of these positive narratives. Normally this is a multi step process that sees 4-7 touch points with the young men before the unveiling of their final project; the photos here are of our first creative session. March 13th was the kick off for cohort 2 of the ART START PORTRAIT Project at BT.

RECRUITMENT TABLING with L.I.T! [Leaders Igniting Transformation]

One of my absolute favorite organizations on the planet; L.I.T. / Leaders Igniting Transformation is a youth leadership organization that does wonders for young people and our community through political education, youth advocacy & leadership and community organizing. I collaborate with them as often as I possibly can. What the organization has been able to accomplish is a story for another time but on this particular day I was able to coordinate and join them during lunch time recruitment for their L.I.T. Chapter at BT High School.

SNACK CART RUN

Building & re-centering organizational culture is no question one of the most difficult thing s that I’ve been tasked with doing; but at the same time when things begin to shift in the right direction it is one of the most rewarding feelings of accomplishment as well. This was still a relatively new initiative in our building, the SNACK CART went around the building on Fridays where students would be able to purchase snacks / goodies from our cart using ‘Bradley Bucks’. Bradley Bucks are earned for a number of different positive behaviors and deeds. A small WIN that went a long way in improving the overall morale for both staff and students in the building. Pictured above are two staff members preparing for a SNACK CART run; little did we know it would be our last run for over a year.