Monday Morning

889 words, 5 minutes read time

Most people I interact with are so caught up in chaotic feelings of betrayal, threats to safety, and loss of a goverment for that people that we’re stunned, or so astonish and shocked that we are temporarily unable to react. This temporality may be time to disengaging from bits of the world around us or we may reroute our energies into political action.  Some are able to go full throttle. I’ve been reading about ways adults are engaging in community care, but what about our young people? Have we been checking on our young people?

Back in January, the NY Times reported teens were experiencing this new presidency in many of the same ways as adults, but without many of the coping skills. they’re keenly aware of the deepening threats to their LGBTQIA+ peers. They see books disappearing from their libraries, content missing in their history and language arts curriculum. Some have had their college acceptance rescinded or are facing slimmer odds of acceptance. I worked in a high school where students didn’t eat until they came to school. I know this is a reality! Yet, regardless of the correlation between nutrition and cognition, or empathy and success, The federal government is cutting school lunch programs. I’ve no idea of the messages that are being directed at them via the platforms where they are entertained and informed.

Libraries are important sites where teens can settle, simmer, and engage; places where they can come to understand issues on a deeper level, build hope for the future, or even escape the day. Libraries provide access to information so that maybe just for a short spell, young people can settle into their emotions and then remember their capabilities. Settling in, not settling down, not shringing. Their ideas can simmer and percolate when they engage with books, with other teens and with community members in ways that give confidence and optimism, perhaps even spark action. They can confidently engage with the world around them, seeking answers and solutions, or even providing them. Their passion and commitment can change our world. Their original and seemingly naïve ways of thinking are necessary in these unchartered political times. It can be hard right not to be that adult who has the confidence sometimes, but we do know that together, we are stronger.

Young people don’t need to settle into feelings of doom, despondency, or powerlessness, and they don’t need to settle for anything less that what they believe in for this country. They can settle their beliefs into meaningful thoughts and actions. There are states that have legislated that educators cannot include lessons on activism in their curriculum. Libraries can do that! Libraries can provide resources that help them settle into their own power. Teens can distill and simmer their ideologies when they discuss in groups, engage with speakers, create materials or provide advocacy in workshops and when they share in book groups. It’s urgent that libraries remain funded through the IMLS that is currently on the government’s chopping block so they can be a safe, meaningful place for young people.

A few more thoughts.

Librarian curated book lists can guide their growth.

Information literacy, the pedagogy of librarians, is a great tool for teaching how to find bias in the media.

Teen groups allow young people to discuss, network, and find support.

Local speakers can provide networking opportunities and access to meaningful community engagement.

Workshops con do a lot! They can do anything from teaching skills to providing  self-care opporrunities.

Book lists do all the things books do: allowing teens to identify and create their own space in the world, but more intensely because of the volume of information provided. What’s really significant about booklists and teens is that they pair emerging activists with informed sources, most of whom readers can connect with while they refine their patterns of thought.

What would I put on a booklist? I’d want teens to know they’re neither alone nor incapable. I’d label my list “Get Up Stand Up”, building from a place of capabilities and strength with a message that urges them not to give up. My list would I’d start with some new ways of conceptualizing the world.

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
Baddawi by Leila Abelrazaq

I’d give them books with real ways that young people have worked to disrupt and change systems of oppression.

Freedom!: The Story of the Black Panther Party by Jetta Grace Martin, Joshua Bloom, and Waldo E. Martin, Jr. [The average Black Panther was 20 years old]
I Am Malala: The Girl who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai, Christina Lamb
A Most Perilous World: The True Story of the Young Abolitionist and Their Crusade Against Slavery by Kristina R. Gaddy
Flowers in the Gutter by Kristina R. Gaddy
No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg
Make Good Trouble: Discover Movements That Sparked Change by Jamia Wilson

And a few guidebooks

Rise & Resist: How to Change the World by Clare Press
Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It by Jamie Margolin
This Book Is Anti-Racist Journal: Over 50 Activities to Help You Wake Up, Take Action, and Do The Work (Empower the Future) by Tiffany Jewell and Aurelia Durand

Let’s go out there and make it a good day! Settle. Simmer. Engage.

Filed under: Book List, Libraries & Schools, self care