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Black Feminism & the Moment for Black Lives

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I learned many things from watching this panel about black feminism that I wasn't aware of before. I have heard of feminism, but never considered that there was a specific approach to feminism for different races. I looked it up, and black feminism is talking about feminist issues, but specifically those that deal with African American and black women. Charlene, Barbara, and Reina are the hosts of the podcast. They discussed such important things that are currently taking place in our society. The panel reflected on the ways that Black Feminism shapes and informs the current struggles and successes we all see on an everyday basis. I appreciated that in the beginning of the podcast, a women introduced the three of them not by just saying their name, but also giving some background knowledge about them. I thought this was helpful, because for people like myself who didn't know who they were, it was a very good opening to see who they are, what organizations they founded or were a
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Youth Work Is... Purposeful Play

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These articles provided a new insight to me on how children play. Play is such an important aspect in a child's growth physically and emotionally. I never knew that play had so many parts to it until I read these readings. According to Henry Jenkins play is composed of the six P's which are permission, process, passion, productivity, participation, and pleasure. I kept re-reading this article because I was trying to find what the main message she was trying to portray. I realized that I needed to stop worrying about piecing together her words and instead understanding that kids learn the best through any kind of play. I really resonated with her reasoning behind permission. I learned about the "magic circle" which is a mental bracket we put around our activities which changes their affects, meaning, and most of all their consequences.  "Within that magic circle, we lower the consequences of risks; we agree to engage with each other with good humor; we try hard bu
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Youth Work Is...Identity

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 "Locating Yourself for Your Students" I thought that this article was very powerful and inspiring because it showed how important expressing your race and identity can be. Both of the professors talked about times where they looked at themselves and questioned their identity because they were the only person who was white in the room. It is an interesting and eye opening experiance to be the minority in the room when you are used to being in the majority. Starting off with you who are and your race right from the beginning of a conversation is an important aspect in getting to know someone. It was very interesting to see how the children reacted when the professors first walked into the room. After the professors introduced themselves it was crazy how their mood and mannerisms changed towards them. It's okay for people to be different from one another. These students came from different backgrounds and cultures but they were still able to appreciate the professors and th
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Youth Work Is... Leading With

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 "Rather than focusing on individual-level outcomes for youth-in the way that mentoring or coaching might-youth-adult partnership work typically is designed to "support youth (and adults) as agents of their own development. .. [who are] expected to collaborate, choosing objectives, and making commitments on issues that matter to both parties" I think this quote is very powerful for both the youth and adults. The adults and children are learning to respect each others opinions, and ways of thinking. They are working together to achieve a common goal. In addition, they are both leaving preconceived opinions of the other party aside . For example, adults are giving the younger generation the opportunity to present new ideas that are more current in today's world. The youth are also allowing the adults the opportunity to present ideas that have been tried and proven effective. I believe that this is important especially in youth settings. It teaches children to respect a
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Lights On After School Celebration

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I attended the Lights On Afterschool celebration for one of my events this semester. The Lights on After school program is focused on keeping children occupied after school. On their website, they talk about how millions of children are left alone Afterschool while parents and caregivers work or attend other obligations. The organization's goal is to help children stay engaged and learn even after school so that they grow into "successful adults." This organization has a great goal, because it is important that children spend time with adults who inspire them to learn, grow and be their best selves. I also think that it is good for them to be in a place where they are being watched so they can't get into trouble.       The event was held on Remo, which is an online program that I have never used before. At first it was confusing. There were different “tables” that you had to jump to and have a conversation with the people in that group about whatever topic that tabl
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Youth Work Is... Care

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     For this post I focused on the content of the article "Nice is Not Enough" by Sonia Nieto.  I had some views of "care" in youth development that were challenged by this reading. Before I would have defined "care" for youth as meeting their basic needs like food, water, rest and clothing. I would also include giving them affection, encouragement and love. This reading showed me that there is a lot more to the idea of care than I previously thought. The author focuses on unintentional racism from teachers in this article, but I think that some of her arguments and ideas can be applied to care of youth in general.       One idea related to "care" in youth development was treating all students  equally. Part of caring for children is pushing them to develop appropriately and to succeed. I thought the author made a good point that sometimes teachers do not treat students equally or expect the same that they do other students. This doesn't hap
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Youth Work is... Social Justice

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  Social Justice Youth Development programs are very important to establishing equity in communities. There are many programs focused on social justice youth development nationwide, including some close to home in Rhode Island. One such program is called Youth in Action. This is an organization based in Providence, Rhode Island.   Youth in Action serves Rhode Island's communities that are effected by a "disproportionate share of social, economic and environmental burdens." The programs focus on giving support and resources to youth who are people of color. Sone of the programs that they provide is a three step program. The first step is "core" which is a year long program where the participants meet to share their stories, focus on emotional development and learn about identity. They also have an immersion program, which has the participants immerse themselves in community service to help the communities that they deem need it most. The last step is "collec
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