Social Justice Book Club Meeting #1
SJBC Meeting #1
This was not for a lack of trying. I advertised heavily with the Youth Justice Coalition through their private messaging app with over 150 members, promoted the club through PFLAG Lawrenceville, reached out to Lilburn Pride (a local city's LGBT group on Facebook, worked through individual teachers on Facebook, and tried reaching out to Katie Rinderlee and Anthony Downer who are two of my heroes who have been doing youth justice work for years. However, the individual connections I made with two exceptional people through PFLAG made it happen.
PFLAG, for reference, is the largest LGBT support group in the country, with over 500 sites nationwide. PFLAG stands for parents and families of lesbians and gays, and it was founded fifty years ago when language was different, and there were fewer terms for labels and identities.
Niko and Ash were two of the first people I met at the PFLAG teen group that I started co-facilitating a year and a half ago. Since then, they both have graduated from a local high school. Niko is a college freshman, and Ash works full-time in retail. I bonded with the two of them, and we shared many stories throughout support group meetings and just hanging out afterward. While they both are older than I had initially imagined for the study- as 18-year-old high school graduates- I was so thankful for their willingness to attend the next meeting and promote the club.
On the drive to the library where the club meets, I decided that I would rework the club from the way I originally had it in my mind. I had not considered what it would be like to have two people that I had already bonded with, especially folx who came with club leadership experience. Niko and Ash were both former leaders of a very successful GSA at their high school before they had graduated. Between our bonds and the leadership experience they possessed, I was considering what it might be like to have them design the club from our first meeting or, at the very least, steer the ship.
Our first meeting started with me going over the club, my vision for it, and how youth participatory action research works. We then looked at zines, including the one created in last year's club. We then looked at books and talked about the study I was doing. Niko asked for a definition of critical consciousness, which is what I am primarily studying through the book club. Collectively, I started a conversation about what the club could be and asked for their input on how we should shape it.
Niko expressed interest in responding to public high schools and their inadequacy on topics ranging from bathroom policies for LGBT people, inadequate sex education classes, limited discussions of politics, and intersectionality in general. Primarily, Niko's interest seemed to be using the club as a way to respond back to the school system that he had just graduated from. They both echoed the need to have a reason to read books.
They had a lot of ideas for future recruiting which they agreed to help me with:
- PFLAG (more directly and coming from them)
- Brookwood's GSA server
- Teachers at Brookwood and their students
- College campus and student life area
They agreed that pizza was the best food, but also suggested Capri Suns and Little Debbie cakes as additional food items. I might need a benefactor for these items. I also realized we would need plates.
Niko suggested that we should have a list of topics based on the books we read. Members can research those topics and present and discuss them in our weekly club meetings.
They agreed that we needed a book checkout list, and they each took one of the books I brought to read and swap. They took Stamped from the Beginning by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X Kendi and Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I promised that I would bring in more queer books next time (especially considering how large our LGBT population in the club will be). I was excited to see them grab these books to read!
I will need to bring composition books and art supplies for future meetings.
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