Introducing “The Voice of a Pride”
The Telling Room has always believed in sharing youth voices and providing a platform for young people to express the ways they are experiencing the world through their unfiltered lens. Sometimes that’s been in the form of a live audience. Often, it’s through a tangible book that our students, or anyone, can hold in their hands. Those results take gathering together and weeks of time for preparation, neither of which we feel we can afford at this moment.
Our black and brown students have been telling us how they’re feeling, right now. In response, we’ve collaborated with our students to turn over our most visible current platforms, our social media, and monthly newsletter, to them in a new series called The Voice of a Pride. We feel these are the most vital voices to hear at this moment in time. Through upheaval or calm, we believe in the power of human connection and the relatability and resolve that can come from it.
Though this series will mostly feature current writings, Benedita Zalabantu’s poem “Drop of Melanin and Blood” from 2018 will open it.
The second piece in the series is titled “Crimson”, which was written by Fiona Stawarz.
The third piece is the series is titled “Neural homicide (apoptosis)” by Safanah Jalal.
The fourth piece in this series is titled “My Name is…” by Adokorac “Tutu” Oryem.
The fifth piece in this series is titled “Hoop Dreams” by Lionel Celestino.
The sixth piece in this series is titled “This is me” by Queen Ineza.
The seventh piece in this series is titled “Uneasy Thoughts” by Jane Charles.
The eighth piece in this series is titled “Still Fighting It” by Didon Heri.
The ninth piece in this series is titled “Borrowed Pieces” by Noor Abduljaleel.
The tenth piece in this series is titled “Does No One Want Blue Ink?” by Noor Sager.
The eleventh piece in this series is titled “Beauty Queen” by Kcebianna Jenkins.
Want to share your response any of our lessons or student works? There are a few options:
View our submission’s page to submit your writing!
We are committed to providing resources, activities, and community engagement to help us all keep writing and communicating across the divide. In the coming weeks and months we’ll be providing all kinds of content on this Medium account, including: A list of shorter writing activities and write/share prompts; articles written by Telling Room staff that feature key elements of literary and language arts methodology; and a suite of Telling Room lessons curated and adapted for online classroom and at-home learning.
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