Young. Urban. and Ready To Speak Out. @cwpfairfield @writingproject

Throughout July, Rony Delva, Director of Upward Bound at Fairfield University, and I hosted Wednesday afternoon conversations with the young men attending his program on our campus. To the left, Oraene Morgan, a graduate of Central High School in Bridgeport and recent college grad, speaks to the young men about integrity, commitment, and the need for focus to achieve beyond Bridgeport City Schools.

During one of our exercises, I brought in several editorials and cartoons created in response to the Trayvon Martin case and asked the young men to interpret them, analyze them, and share what they had to say (an analytical practice tied to Common Core State Standards and extremely relevant to what was on their minds over the summer).

As the young men spoke and shared, I realized how important it was to tap my inner journalist and begin taking notes. What followed was building and (re)building their responses to the ways young, urban male youth, like them, are viewed in the United States. The editorial was co-written from their ideas and, yesterday, it was printed in the Connecticut Post: Young Men of Bridgeport Must Stand for Integrity 

We are African-Americans, Pakistani, Jamaicans, Haitians, Puerto Ricans, El Salvadorans, Mexicans, Colombians and Egyptians and this summer we've attended classes with the aim to achieve academically and to attain more self-awareness through Upward Bound at Fairfield University. On campus, we met weekly to discuss the issues urban young men have and to question where we stand in a culture that does not expect us to achieve. Trayvon Martin, a kid who looked and dressed like several of us, lost his life too soon. Whether one judges his actions as innocent or guilty, we recognize that the verdict falls within 137 years of history since the Emancipation Proclamation. For these reasons, it has made us question who we are, who we want to be for others, and how we are viewed by those who don't know us.

I know that Rony Delva has devoted his life to supporting young males like the ones who wrote with me this summer and I hope that the article is read by many because their opinions deserve to be heard. In fact, when the article was coming together the young men applauded themselves. It was a remarkable thing to witness.

The best way to counter the negativity too often placed on students in our schools is to come at them  with the power of taking positive action. This, to me, is the power of writing and why ALL youth in American schools deserve better writing instruction. Giving them the power to write has the potential to right the ills of an inequitable society. Sadly, urban schools have fallen into a police state of top-down management where test-prepartion impedes thinking, voice, and the development of strong writing skills. In the Op-Ed, however, I witnessed the power of real-world writing when it matters  to young people. If only more teachers would be coached and encouraged to take such action...If only more trust and support was given to them...If only our nation returned to policies that support best practices in school, including yearly investment in The National Writing Project and additional support for TRIO.