Writing Boston's Future engaged the local community with the Museum as a site for public education. Partners share how they designed a youth-centered approach alongside a reparative, liberatory justice framework.
Writing Boston’s Future is a partnership between the Boston Writing Project and the Museum of African American History that aims to engage the local community, especially the youth in Boston’s Black community, with the Museum as a site for public education. Launched in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic and the death of George Floyd, a key focus of this project was to create spaces of refuge, learning, and leadership for Boston’s students.
Listen to this interview with partners to learn how these two organizations designed a youth-centered approach alongside a reparative, liberatory justice framework in order to collaboratively humanize and transform the curriculum while preparing for an anti-racist, humanistic, civic-oriented future.
Project Resources
Summer Institute Agenda (PDF): Examine the details of how the Writing Boston’s Future Summer Institute was designed to support youth in taking ownership of their learning and leadership.
The Program Impact: Watch this video to hear from youth, educators, and family members involved in the project’s first summer institute:
Writing Boston’s Future:
Anthology of Brilliance, Building, and Boston
The final anthology published from the summer 2022 work. Download (PDF)
For many years now, James Fester has supported Write Out via features at Edutopia and in The National Park Classroom. This year he has compiled a white paper to support teachers in thinking about taking their students outside to write.