Writing for Freedom: Student Voice Impacting Change

Writing for Freedom: Student Voice Impacting Change
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Something interesting happens when you tell students they can write about anything they want. I started the Energy Convertors Paid Student Fellowship to give marginalized students a voice that could improve public education. We learned a lot in the first month. Many of them clammed up. Some asked what the word or page limit was. They wanted to know if there was a prompt or if they needed to write it double or singles space. Their schooling so indoctrinated these fellows that being able to freely express themselves was a foreign concept. What once may have been the simple joy of expression was reduced to a poorly-structured set of rules that many marginalized people only engaged with for a grade.

So we sat and we talked. Then we talked some more and I jotted down themes they used often. I took note of the people they would name in our conversations. I recorded the moments when they showed emotion. Then we talked about that in the context of their education. How did their school experience coincide with what we recorded? After our conversations, the fellows just wrote. I told them I didn't care about structure, grammar, any of it -- I just wanted them to speak their reality however they felt comfortable. I would edit and polish. The fellows finally stopped worrying about whether I was going to take a red marker to their most intimate thoughts while putting a letter grade on their experience and what they produced was amazing prose. Prose that captured the joys and pains of our educations system, but most importantly, they experienced these cathartic moments where they felt a level of agency they weren't used to.

The moment these fellows saw their work published with high def pictures attached and congratulatory comments from complete strangers, they felt pride. They felt strong. They tasted a different type of respect and wanted to feel it more, and we've been cranking out articles since. My queue of articles to edit is beyond capacity.

Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai

Their Words

A different fellow discussed the fear he faces regarding the rescinding of DACA. He offers the perspective of a 17-year-old that only knows the United States even though he was born in Yemen. His blunt eloquence educated us on a teenager’s perspective rather than just the talking heads reporting on the topic. How are we discussing immigration issues with students? How are we facilitating conversations amongst students to build important empathy that affects lives?

Another student wrote about the fear of being misgendered and having to worry every time they made even the simplest of decisions such as which bathroom to use. School administrators can take these words and assess whether they are running schools where students are fearful every minute of every day. With a constantly changing landscape, are our schools ahead of the game or playing catch up?

Each of these fellows will continue to research the education policies that impact their everyday lives and host conversations with leaders to influence change. I must confess that there are few things in the world better than witnessing someone fall in love with their voice and learn of their power. These are the griots that should be informing our policies and understanding of how marginalized folks are experiencing the world. If you want to follow the work produced by the Energy Convertors Fellowship, please go to our Medium.com page and don't be afraid to offer encouragement. Trust me; the fellows love it.

Amiri Baraka

Amiri Baraka

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