Article: T.A.G. You're It! [8th Annual Educators Conference]

T.A.G. You're It!

May 2017

written by: Bruce Bennett, Miya Ingram, Julia Jones, Timmy Lawrence, and Justin Newsome

The 8th Annual Educator's Conference, hosted by T.A.G. (Teacher Action Group), was held at the Folk-Arts-Cultural Treasure Charter School located at 1023 Callowhill Street Philadelphia, PA. It served as a melting pot of inspirational figures to share experiences, opportunities and enlighten the gathered audience on school related issues. The theme of the conference was “Crawl Spaces for Liberation” and it was fascinating how every attendee found a way to be engaged. Despite the focus being geared towards educators, the event found various ways to ensure that all participants gained new knowledge by the end of the day. The conference began with a contemplative air as the hosts presented their speeches about life, the nation’s current civil unrest, and the power of activism. While wrapping up introductions, the hosts called upon the audience to think about what impacts they’ve made in their respective communities. After vibing with the audience for a few minutes, the hosts let the panel lead the way. Panelists, Jalyssa Ortiz, Isabel Dalakishvili, Mari Morales, Lillian Hentz, Katrina Clark, Imani Sanders-Rasul, and TS Hawkins had the task of self-introduction and explaining how they create their own “crawl spaces”. To say the panelists lit a fire in the hearts of the spectators would be an understatement; it was an inferno of hope and motivation. 

There was an array of workshops to attend during this one-day conference but we decided to sit in on “Queering the Classroom Through Everyday Actions” led by the wonderfully charismatic Maddie Luebbert. Maddie Luebbert is a Philadelphia based graduate student who worked as a student-teacher this year. The workshop began with a free-write guided by questions surrounding anti-queer language and our reactions to it. Next, we introduced ourselves and were asked to give one word to summarize our feelings about anti-queer language in the classroom. We heard a variety of emotions including anxiety, frustration, and disgust. Some felt powerless, conflicted, concerned, and surprisingly the word reflective was mentioned. After talking about our individual classroom encounters, we re-enacted three scenarios in which students in the classroom used anti-queer language or inquired about queer related topics. Through this activity, everyone could rotate within the positions of the student, the teacher, and the observer. After each scenario, we talked about how it felt and what we could have done differently. Throughout this workshop, everyone learned different techniques and ways to incorporate LGBTQ+ language into the curriculum. Additionally, we learned not to rush to judgement when other students use anti-queer language. Some students may not be aware of how negative language impacts the LGBTQ+ community. Thus, when a critical moment arises, the collective school community should take the time to guide each other through the process of understanding how to treat each other respectively. These scenarios set the tone for the rest of the workshop. A freeform discussion arose amongst the educators, student-teachers, and youth about intentionally incorporating LGBTQ+ history and language into the classroom without making it “stick out” from what the curriculum mandates. It was refreshing to feel more equipped to return to our communities and educate others on crafting a holistic curriculum. 

“None of Us are Free Until We are All Free” was the second workshop we attended with two energetically hilarious facilitators, Hazel Edwards and Gianna Graves, from The Bryson Institute at The Attic Youth Center. The Bryson Institute focuses on providing trainings to the city to educate the community about the oppression of minority groups. The theme of this workshop seemed to be a “call to action” for Intersectionality; the ultimate key to liberation and equity for all. Hazel and Giana broke down the complexities and social dynamics of oppression, by presenting three diagrams they created to explain each concept with simple terminology. First, The Tree of White Supremacy focused on racism --which led to white privilege-- and colorism --which led to light skin privilege and oppression. From one of the tree’s trunks was a branch labeled "White Folks". The "White Folks" branch split into two other branches labeled "Racism" and "Color Blindness". Hazel and Giana explained that racism and color blindness are effects of white privilege. This tree metaphor helped the workshop participants understand that racism was rooted in white privilege. Eager to learn more, it was then, Hazel and Giana handed out their second diagram, The Heterosexism Power Grid. This graph had roads of oppression and privilege but focusing on society’s disparity on sexuality. "Heterosexuality", the title of the power plant, had two main roads titled "Oppression" and "Privilege". The road to “Oppression” had four sub-roads labeled "Biphobia", "Queerphobia", and two "Homophobia" routes all leading to the “House of Sexuality”. The "Privilege" road led to the “House of Heterosexuality”. Brimming with all this newfound knowledge, Hazel and Giana unleashed their final diagram, The Patriarchy Pipeline which focused on sexism and cissexism. Both concepts go through a huge "Patriarchy" pipe, but one side is titled "Privilege" leaking trails of "Cisgender Privilege" and "Male Privilege" into the bucket of "Cisgender Men". This means that cisgender males receive privilege from the patriarchy. The opposite side of the "Patriarchy" pipe titled "Oppression" trickled to "Transphobia" and "Misogyny" followed by an adjacent pipe labeled "Transmisogyny" depicting the additional path of oppression that transgender women traverse in society. Unfortunately, all the water from these routes drip into the buckets of "Transgender/Genderqueer Folks", "Transgender Women/Transfeminine Folks" and "Cisgender Women" highlighting that those identities are oppressed by the patriarchy. These diagrams were very innovative and got the creatives juices spinning for all the workshop participants! Flowing with the high-octane energy of space, Hazel and Giana had us play a few rounds of a newly constructed version of Jeopardy. After being split into three groups to answer questions like, "What's pink-washing?", "Who's Bayard Rustin?", "What's whitewashing?", etc. the room exploded in a cacophony laughter, determination to learn more, and spontaneous teamwork across all identities. Caught up in the joy, it felt like game only lasted for a few seconds. We didn’t want the fun to conclude but Final Jeopardy was the last section to complete. On the edge of our chairs, the whole room awaited the final jeopardy question. After a few seconds of good spirited teasing, Hazel finally asked the group, "What was the exact date of the Stonewall riot?". The answer: June 28, 1969! The Team B was the only group to answer the question correctly and they were extremely ecstatic. Since they bet all their points for double or nothing shot-in-the-dark, they won the game with a score of 9,800 triumphing over the A and C teams. Team B was an all youth team, so this was a very noble victory!

After all the workshops were complete, everyone was asked to gather in the common room where we began the day. The T.A.G. hosts asked for individuals to stand in a circle while stating their favorite overall moment of the conference as well as what they gained from the experience. After listening to all the inspiring responses, it was clear that people accumulated a bunch of knowledge. From garnering a new outlook on society to collecting tools to create our own “crawl spaces” to liberate ourselves from the chains of oppression and ignorance, it was honor to be in an environment of progressive academic game-changers!

Article: The Preservation of Justice

The Preservation of Justice

February 2017

written by: Bruce Bennett & Julia Jones

On February 8th, The University Community Collaborative POWER Internship hosted a Social Justice POWER Panel that took place at Temple University. The panel consisted of Mike O’Bryan (advocate of youth rights and project manager of SMASH), TS Hawkins (international author and facilitator for the WERQ Radio and Podcasting Internship at the Attic Youth Center), Shani Akilah (Liberationist and co-founder of the Black and Brown Workers Collective), and Koby Murphy (Youth Organizer with the Philadelphia Student Union), who are avid proponents of social justice. 

“I infiltrate "white" spaces", starts Hawkins, helping to set the tone for the panel. She stated she studies how they operate, turns it on its head, and teaches the youth varying ways to navigate in the world. Akilah follows up with “There’s is an art in dismantling what does not serve freedom.” Initially, Akilah went around dismantling systems of oppression but soon learned that “you cannot dismantle without talking about what you are going to build.” Hawkins and Akilah both had very different responses but they’re working towards the same goal. O’Bryan stated “If I'm absent, the uniqueness that I can contribute to you is absent"; that’s why he believes that our personal health is so crucial to any movement we seek to be a part of. When asked what he does to serve social justice in his community, he stated he uses mediums such as photography and music to convey a message. Murphy, also, thinks that creativity is the key to keep people listening to what you have to say. 

Whilst discussing prominent social justice issues dealing with the chaotic and changing environment of today, the panelists touched on the current president. For O’Bryan, the world shifted once Donald Trump became a presidential nominee. He says that he was raised in a time where “All of the big lies that covered the world started to crumble…and now we are at a reckoning point.” Hawkins disclosed that she came from a long line of educators and has known for a while that the world is nothing but propaganda, but the recent presidential election reaffirmed some things. “The lowercase KKK were always in place and now they have a mouthpiece.” Everyone on the panel agreed that in these trying times one of our biggest concerns is us; brown folks being resold. Hawkins says “I’m tired of black and brown bodies being sold under different language”, and echoing that same note O’Bryan retorted that “it’s our human capital that’s always been in the hands of other people.” They all agreed that somehow we have to take ourselves back from the systems we’ve been thrown into that continue to oppress.

When the question, “What advice do you have for your students?” was posed, everyone on the panel had something to say. “My advice to you is that for those of you that are for social justice put yourself squarely first.” O’Bryan said. Through his life he learned that his personal health was very important, and without that intact it’s hard to get things done. Hawkins said “My advice is always to honor your worth, and I say honor your worth because you already know it...you are Kings and you are Queens.” Her biggest goal is first and foremost, keeping us alive in a system that is so against us. Then, Akilah stated “Be kind to each other because…imma say it, patriarchy, misogyny, colorism... we are fish swimming in a fishbowl of dirty water, I challenge you to once a day spit that water out.” Akilah continues to connect it to how they found sisterhood in black women even though white supremacy pushes against it with negative images of when black and brown women gather. Murphy’s advice was more goal-orientated, he wants us to constantly ask ourselves “Where is it that I'd like to be?” and constantly work towards trying to get there. In other words, find the light at the end of the tunnel, and claw your way there to make your life worth the struggle!

Event: Black Lives Matter Week Panel [LGBTQ+ Youth of Color Discuss "Moonlight" & "Pariah"]

The WERQ/Radio Podcasting & Youth Making Media Interns at the Attic Youth Center partnered with the Caucus of Working Educators/Philadelphia Federation of Teachers for Black Lives Matter Week! Speaking on an array of topics regarding black and brown youth portrayal in media, these interns unearthed tons of knowledge for the masses to feed on!

Video: #AmericanApocalypse Team Asks "America, What Happened?!"

The #AmericanApocalypse Team

of the WERQ/Radio Podcasting & Youth Making Media Interns

at the Attic Youth Center

discuss the aftermath of the 2016 Presidential Election,

Donald Trump, and the Republican Party.

Episode 6: Dear Congress, Where's My Seat?

In this episode,

hosts discuss the lack of congressional seats available for intersectional voices

and how that negatively shapes the progression of the future!

or CLICK HERE!

In The News: G.O.A.L. Press Conference with the Media Arts Summer Interns!

The Media Arts summer interns at The Attic Youth Center

completed their 1st Press Conference with

Jo Mason and Greater Philly G.O.A.L.

at the 6th Precinct.

Press articles coming soon!

‪#‎staytuned‬

Article: Youth Respond to Temple University Social Justice Panel!

Youth Respond to Temple University Social Justice Panel
February 2016
article written by: Adrianna Branin, Damien Walker, and Jack Kleiner of The K.N.D. Squad in the WERQ/Radio Podcasting & Youth Making Media Internship at The Attic Youth Center

On Feb. 10 we were invited as press to attend The Social Justice Panel at Temple University. The Social Justice Panel was created by Nick Palazzalo and the POWER Internship. The panel consisted of TS Hawkins, Kashara White, Ociele Hawkins, Ismael Jimenez, and Dr. Anthony Monterio. The Social Justice Panel handled the social topics such as erasure of black people, standardized testing, and Black Lives Matter.

During this social justice panel, erasure was one of the larger topics discussed by the panel. The first question discussed the whitewashing of African American History, posing, “How do you resist whitewashing as a teacher?” Ismael Jimenez, an African American History teacher at the Kensington Creative and Performing Arts High School, responded with several points about how we don’t learn about the five years between Martin Luther King, Jr's I Have a Dream speech and his assassination. Additionally, he states that we also seem to only learn about slavery being a long time ago, Martin Luther King, Obama, and racism being “over.” We believe that this was an incredibly important point to make because people, especially youth, are not being properly educated about how racism still exists as a system of oppression rather than individual prejudices, even after Martin Luther King, Jr’s I Have a Dream speech.

The Temple University Social Justice panel consisted heavily of the struggles which people of color face in modern society. TS Hawkins, an internationally known performance poet and author, spoke heavily on the intersectionality the concept of examining the interconnection in the oppression of groups of people rather than viewing them separately of being black and LGBTQ. Furthermore, she objected to the term “modern slavery” and how slavery is not “modernized” as it never left, explaining that the system just changed its appearance and language.

An extremely memorable discussion in the panel was Dr. Anthony Monterio’s answer to the question “Why are people of color born suspects?” He explained that the behavior and notions toward brown bodies stems from what blackness symbolizes in society and how the one drop rule, the idea that if

you had an African American family memeber up to four generations back, you were considered black, has allowed certain privileges and separation for the white population. He concluded with the factors of how we’ve come to identify individuals as white, giving people this identity because of the belief that “I’m white because I’m not black.” To clarify, many people may identify as white because they were never involved with the oppression and image of blackness, “that whiteness only exists because the government needed to separate those that would’ve been called slaves from those that would’ve been slave masters.”

In all, the panel was extremely educational and informative, giving the attendants and listeners knowledge that is not often learned in a traditional classroom or by authority figures. Moreover, it included the struggles and documentation from our ancestors and our own experiences today. Marginalization, or social exclusion, was a heavy topic thrust upon the entire panel. What it means to be generalized and silenced as people of color. We, as The K.N.D. Squad, feel as though the Social Justice Panel at Temple University informed us, as well as other people, and youth in the room that topics such as these should be taught on a daily basis, and these topics should be discussed even outside of the traditional classroom and in society in general. Thank you Nick Palazzalo and the POWER Internship for having us as do press coverage at this wonderful event.

Article: POWER in Our Society!

POWER in Our Society

February 2016

article written by: Angelica Owens, Jabrea Reid, and Lucas Borschell of The Gender Benders Squad in the WERQ/Radio Podcasting & Youth Making Media Internship at The Attic Youth Center

On February 10th, 2016, we (the Attic Youth Center WERQ/Radio Podcasting & Youth Making Media interns) attended a Social Justice panel at Temple University. It was hosted by the POWER Internship. The panelists included TS Hawkins, Ociele Hawkins, Ismael Jimenez, Kahsara White, and Dr. Anthony Monteiro. It was moderated by Celine Martin and Rolando Barbon. The program, POWER, is a young people's project that does videos about social issues. The subjects that were discussed include race, gender, etc. The panelists were discussing the issue of race in America and how it affects the things that we need to survive as people.

Celine Martin started addressing the problem by posing the question, “why is power important”? When it comes to the concept of power, we immediately think of social issues, such as the unfair advantage white people hold in America and the rates at which school funding is being cut. The concept of “modern slavery” is also a very interesting one. TS Hawkins stated that “slavery was never gone, so it can’t be considered “modern”. Whether people know it or not, slavery is still happening. This generation is just beginning to tackle the bull head on. White people are unaware of the ongoing struggles of people of color because the system is built to cater to people who are melanin deficient. They can be so blind that they don’t even see how slavery is still happening around us. Ismael Jimenez said “In some ways, society has always enslaved and will continue to do so. Whether it be socially or economically or other.” This strikes a strong ember about the social conditions today, which must be brought to light. When people bring these problems to the light they so desperately needed, there is also the problem of finding ways to express the concern without being overpowering.

JK Rowling once said, “understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery”. This is extremely reminiscent of the opening poem at the Social Justice Panel, “They’ll Neglect to Tell You”. The poem which was written by TS Hawkins, talks of all the things society will not tell you, and that it can be hard to get to the truth. The truth of the situation is the ongoing challenges that face our (black and brown) youth today as TS stated. A black LGBT student misses school once or twice a week because of fear of discrimination. They were taught to exist, but not to accept because of erasure; erasure being the tendency for groups to ignore the existence of minority. This dehumanizing act has profound effects on people who are the minority racially. We lack acceptance in the world, which is part of the reason why LGBT youth are four times more likely to commit suicide, according to the Trevor Project.

Power is important because it is the thing that turns racial prejudice into benign racism, the privilege which can be used to discriminate and cause the societal problems. Societal problems that are not new, but have always existed against these groups of people, as stated in the discussion about “modern slavery”. This is an extremely important subject to discuss, which is apparent in the panelists. Dr. Anthony Monteiro told us about the wide spread of the issue by informing us about the “One Drop Rule”. The One Drop Rule is, if going back four generations, there was someone who was a slave, you were Black. Anybody who was a slave was supposed to be a slave because they’re African and “must serve” other races. The emphasis put on the subject with this is staggering. Though, the panelists did explain how we can fight these societal problems. “You don’t have to go to college to fight” says Isamel Jimenez. He continued, "in fact, you can start right now, as youth!" A positive message is all that is needed to empower youth and allow them to start the fight, that hopefully with time will allow us to solve the problems plaguing this society.

Article: POWER Panel Awakens Youth!

POWER Panel Awaken Youth!
February 2016
article written by: Lanier Bradshaw, Skylar James, and Christian Williams of The FAQ Squad in the WERQ/Radio Podcasting & Youth Making Media Internship at The Attic Youth Center

On February 10, 2016, we at the Rainbow Experience were invited to a social justice

panel at Temple University Ritter Hall in the Walk Auditorium.The panelist included TS Hawkins

renowned international author, Ociele Hawkins a loveable youth organizer involved with the

Philadelphia student union, Kashara White, a revolutionary black writer, Ismael Jimenez a

educator in the Philadelphia community for the past 10 years and Anthony Monterio who taught

African American studies at Temple University for 10 years as well. The panels topics included

the Black Lives Matter movement, identity erasure, the educational system, and a prevention of an 800 million dollar prison. The main message being, "why is power important"? This simple question exposed how the system is against minorities with topics like the school to prison pipeline, which Ociele touches on a lot with his continuous mention of his prevention of an 800 million prison.This panel in our opinion was assembled to awaken ignorant young minds to the ongoing social issues. Several hot topics were introduced as questions were asked by the moderators. The question that stood out the most to us was “how’s our condition as Black and Latino people today modern day slavery? Why are minorities born suspects?” To this TS Hawkins was quoted saying “For me it’s no such thing as modern day slavery; slavery never left”, which we thought was such a powerful and truthful statement.

Others on the panel gave some serious insight on the ongoing struggles of the black community and all its factors within a white supremacist society. Kashara is a panelist we would like to focus upon, as she adds on to the concept of modern slavery with “to be involved in the situation but be excluded and victim to that situation, yes we’re still in slavery”. She also talked of how our oppressors are no more intelligent, creative, or capable than we are in fact we are the only tools we need for our liberation; her vision and spunk inspired us to make a difference and change the social stigmas of the Black community set by white oppressors. It is evident that a lot of Latino and Black youth are blind to the systematic racism and modern slavery, to which the panelist were asked at what point did they become “awake”? Kashara giving a small story in response to how she wasn’t political growing up, was middle class and not conscious of Black issues. We believe this is typical and usually expected. Kashara continues to say that she’s very goal oriented and mainly focuses on solutions than just letting the issue be existent. She's quoted saying “injustice radicalized me” she continues “we’re insane to think the same system that oppresses us, will help us” ,“A lot of people think radical they have ideas and theories but don’t do anything.” She isn’t called revolutionary for no reason and in our opinion she’s completely right. Modern day segregation with African Americans is prevalent; we do it to ourselves with #teamdarkskin and #teamlightskin just how it was 400 years ago we’re

segregating ourselves. If we’re all one community then why separate ourselves by the tone of brown we are?" This ties into a question that was offered up to the panelist "how do we rebel against the oppression? Which they collectively answered with “bring the black community together, all aspects of it” and “be aware of black people with white supremacist agendas”. A follow up question posed by youth audience member Damien Walker was “how do I bring people together that simply don’t want to listen” which the panel answered with “there’s a step by step process to which the ignorant want you to go through to avoid resistance; push on regardless”. Ultimately we loved this performance of “radicalness” and it feels great to see a display of awaken,committed , and proud black people speaking up against their oppressors.

Event: Social Justice POWER Panel @ Temple University

The WERQ/Radio Podcasting & Youth Making Media Interns

had their first day in the field as youth journalist for

the University Community Collaborative's SOCIAL JUSTICE PANEL

hosted by Nick Palazzolo & the POWER Interns!

About the Panel:

The panel, organized by the POWER Internship program of the University Community Collaborative, will include community leaders, activists, and educators who are working towards a vision of social justice in Philadelphia.

Moderated by the POWER interns, this panel will cover a range of issues including

identity erasure, standardized testing, police violence, and Black Lives Matter.

Welcome "Making A Change Radio" to the Rainbow Experience Family!

The MAKING A CHANGE RADIO TEAM is a multiracial group of Philly youth spreading their stories with #BlackLivesMatter where they discuss society, power, racism, inequality, police brutality, the media, intersectionality, and justice! They are a summer collective facilitated by Nick Palazzolo during the PYN WorkReady Program at the Attic Youth Center. 

To spotlight their debut, check out EPISODE 3: CONVO ON THE PO-PO below!

To listen to their summer rundown, episodes 1-10, CLICK HERE!