Featuring Youth Creativity

Dear Usdan Community,

Almost a year has passed since the first Musing; thank you for being part of this dialogue. Since most Musings have addressed the main values of Usdan — sustainability, equity, health & safety, community, and of course, youth creativity — I am using this one year anniversary to reflect on how our Musings could become more impactful. 

Because youth creativity is at the center of everything Usdan, my new goal is to place youth creativity at the center of the next wave of Musings. We will feature Usdan youth writers and artists.

To launch, this week, we share the work of Usdan students who participated in the free Presidents’ Day Writing Workshop: Honoring Our Black Past, Present & Future. The young writers considered the question: how do you want to change the narrative of history? Participants thought of a historical or contemporary black innovator or leader and created a brief black narrative about the impact they would like to make on the world. Those lines were crafted into the community poem below.

Enjoy,

Lauren Brandt Schloss, Executive Director

Honoring Our Black Past, Present & Future

lead like Harriet 
entertain like Michael
believe like Steve
teach like Phillis
write like Amanda
inspire like Rosa
fight like Muhammad
organize like Stacey
create like Rita
lead like Sojourner
entrepreneur like Emmit
educate like Katherine
motivate like Martin
build like Theaster
lead like Kamala

We thank the poets of this workshop for sharing
their words and for being vulnerable:

Zoe A.F.
Alessandra D.
Elysena D.
Hope F.
Josephine H.
Ava S.
Daniz S.
Koda S.
Mateo S.