by Jose A. Alma Turull
Passion
Illustrated by Jose A. Alma Turull
Womanhood
Written by Anonymous
Art by Arielle Junca
It is a crowded room, I am alone. Their voices thunder like dark splotches on My skin, laden with a cadence who’ll don Violence at a quiver. But then, blown Like silver wind, sweet melody unknown— “Come here, your tag’s sticking out,” and upon My shoulder she sits, amidst the loud Johns; A friend whose words glow like fair stitches sewn.
My face is a quilt of these soft addresses, Which dye my skin a thousand mighty hues. Tender thumb prints painted pink and eyelash Kisses lick the clouds off my black dresses. I am home in my sex, who always choose This unsaid task. Bound in this sacred class g
Written by Paula Espinosa
i slept over (at yo
for the first time this summer.
i’d never been there before it was only one night.
you’re the best friend i always never had.
we’d had countless sleepovers before, of course, curled up on some foreign mattress that belonged to us, only temporarily.
nights of whispers in the dark, debriefing and talking until we drifted off, comfortable silence and chilly rooms.
sleeping over (at your house) felt so natural, as though we grew up doing it. sneaking midnight snacks, making friendship bracelets, playing mermaids in the pool, falling asleep on the couch watching a movie, pinky promising. made up memories, conjured moments, echoes of us that don’t exist but almost do.
walking into your house for the first time didn’t feel foreign. your family feels like mine, even though they’re from opposite sides of the world, our moms squint at their phones in the same way and our dads drive the same way.
different mattress, different room, different pillow— same person.
out of everyone, yours was the only house I slept over at this summer.
i’m glad it was. it felt like coming home g
Art by Arielle Junca
Happiness Comes From Within
This painting is a representation of introspection. In the Bible, it is written, “All the days of the afflicted are bad, but a glad heart has a continual feast regardless of the circumstances.” I am shaped by whatever trial I go through based on how I envision it.
In this painting, the woman’s positive character is captured through her smile and through the gold streak, which symbolizes the purity within. Just as gold is tried in the furnace to become pure, so we gain valuable insights from the midst of atrocities. With her expression and uncontrolled hair, the painting focuses on the woman’s sense of freedom and content. As she embraces the peace within her, she is embraced by the peace that surrounds her g
Art by Rachel Tavarez
Designed by Gabriela Estrada
Great Awakening
This painting symbolizes the spiritual growth I have awakened to and the expression of the true self, naked and unashamed.
The figure is physically present, but her mind is elsewhere; as the direction she is facing changes with her turned head, her focus is likewise transformed. This shows the transformation that comes with being renewed.
The bird symbolizes wholeness and a new sense of freedom, as something that usually flies out of reach is placed into the figure’s hands. The setting reflects a state of overcoming, rising above what lies beneath. In the awakening comes a process of change and a desire to reach something you thought you could never grasp g
Art by Rachel Tavarez
Designed by Gabriela Estrada
Grayscale Flora: Monochromatic Nature Scenes
Through this photographic series, I set out to illustrate the intricate patterns and vast natural beauty found in Florida’s remaining forests and marshes. These ecologically diverse areas are rapidly dwindling. Unimpeded commercial development continues at a breakneck pace across our state, robbing future generations of the majesty to be found therein. These images were created to bring attention to all that we have to lose if we continue to prize progress over all else, and at any cost.
This series aims to evoke a connection between the viewer and the natural world that the pieces depict, reminding us all that we can only appreciate nature as long as we protect it. Having grown up in South Florida, I spent my childhood roaming forests similar to those in the series. Returning to these backdrops of my earliest memories reminded me that we need not look far from our own backyards to find beauty, so long as we cherish and preserve it properly g
Photography by Elliot Alley
Designed by Peyton Poitras
Create One More Tomorrow:
Funding the Arts to Lower the Suicide Rate
Written by Alessia F. Prenda
Designed by Rebecca Meshel
and Adrian Korte2
The adolescent suicide rate in the United States has skyrocketed over the last few decades. Growing up with ADHD and anxiety, I was exposed to the realities of mental illness from an early age. Despite the challenges I faced, I had people who supported me. Many are not as lucky; I have friends who struggled as children because they didn’t receive the aid they needed to keep up with their peers and feel supported. These friends experienced suicidal ideation, which they’ve said was largely due to ostracization. I began to ask myself: what can be done to provide relief for students who feel hopeless because they lack access to mental health resources? I realized that what helped me and many of my friends the most was the ability to participate in music education as an emotional outlet.
One of the most faithful guides I had growing up was my high school band teacher. Whenever I felt overwhelmed after school or in between classes, I would go to his room, talk to him about what was going on, and play an instrument or sing while he graded papers to take my mind off of things. I also had a similar experience with my voice teacher outside of school during my lessons. These two people helped me get through many dark, suffocating moments simply by listening to what I had to say and allowing me to use music as a coping mechanism.
I now recognize that their work would be considered a form of music therapy, though it was not labeled as such. With education budget cuts leading to the reduction or removal of fine arts programs, kids are in great danger. They need coping mechanisms through which they can express themselves in a healthy manner in order to combat the effects of untreated mental disorders and suicidal ideation.
A program constructed in Cardiff sought to provide an opportunity of music creation and collaboration to those who otherwise would not have one due to a shortage of resources and spaces. Throughout the process, Marcus Ford, a drummer and teaching assistant who studied Youth and Community work at Cardiff Metropolitan University, researched the aspects of social development in collaborative music practice among young individuals between the ages of 16 and 25, culminating in his publication: Communication, identity, respect: A case study of collaborative music practice in a Community Music Project: Sciencegate. He collected data while observing rehearsals and other group activities before, during, and after their occurrence; recording performances; and interviewing some of the participants.
One of the most fundamental conclusions this case study comes to is that musical participation has a positive effect on the way we see and express ourselves, as well as the way in which others see us. Ford states that “collaborative music-making is strongly linked to establishing notions of identity of self and other.”3 Collaborating to create music builds a sense of community through a shared passion and paves the way for connection. Opportunities for musical participation can be helpful for those struggling with mental disorders and social ostracization, and Ford shows that it provides an expressive outlet to foster connection, helping participants feel less alone.
A group of rising high school students exposed to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSD) mass shooting participated in a two-week art therapy camp to help them cope with stress and mental disorders. A group of researchers observed by Hylton
Photos by Rebecca Meshel, Natasya Chen1,
interviewed these students on their experiences; many of them attended the middle school adjacent to MSD and saw the tragedy firsthand. They were then given the option of working in visual art, drama, or music therapy. The authors concluded that participation in all three therapies led to a decrease in levels of PTSD, depression, and anxiety.4
Adolescents often feel embarrassed about taking advantage of things like therapy. Creative arts, however, are not typically seen in the same light and young people are more open to them. If we ensure that all kids have access to resources that spark interest, then they are far more likely to make use of them and see positive results.
According to research conducted by Boston Children’s Hospital, suicides in America committed by people under the age of 20 had a positive correlation with levels of poverty.5 Alarmingly, as poverty levels in a county increased, so did the number of adolescent suicides. This may be partially explained by social disorganization theory. As explained in Terrible Magnificent Sociology, people in ‘socially disorganized’ areas have less financial and emotional stability in the home, are more likely to experience and witness violence in their communities, and are far less likely to have access to sufficient health care and support.6 Budget cuts run rampant in these areas due to the fact that property tax is the deciding factor for how much funding a district receives.7 The majority of a public school district’s funding comes from property taxes, which perpetuates poverty, providing richer students with more resources than those who have few resources to begin with.
“If we ensure that all kids have access to resources that spark interest, then they are far more likely to make use of them and see positive results."
I propose that a new federal policy be implemented and enforced in every state. This policy would ensure the allocation of sufficient funding to schools in districts with higher poverty levels that would specifically ensure the continuation of the performing arts, and possibly arts therapy programs. This money would come from a state’s federal budget, not property taxes, so that poorer districts are given the resources they need for their kids to thrive. Those are the kids that need these resources the most, not only because of the fact that they are at a disadvantage, but because studies have proven that they are statistically more likely to commit suicide than their more affluent peers. This, while it cannot solve everything, may combat the rising suicide rate by providing kids with safe spaces to express themselves in a healthy, supportive environment built on community and the encouragement of vulnerability.
I began my research with the understanding that the suicide rate of adolescents in America has been spiking and recently replaced homicide as their second leading cause of death. It wasn’t until I read about social disorganization theory that I stopped to consider that the driving force might not lie in the cultures of our communities and individuals within our society, but on the institutionally-enforced inequality that our society is built on. My research went from being focused on the individual to being focused on the structures that directly impact the individual.
I’ve come to the conclusion that, if sufficiently funded and valued, music and other modes of the creative arts can be extremely beneficial to those suffering from depression, PTSD, and anxiety. This is because creation in the arts, especially drama, visual arts, and music, can serve as supplementary, expressive coping mechanisms for people of all ages, thus reducing the likelihood of suicidal ideation to be fulfilled by action.
The first real step we need to take to reduce the suicide rate is by recognizing and understanding suicidal ideation and warning signs before it’s too late. Then, we need to have the resources to give to those who are presenting those warning signs. The act of institutionalizing someone at risk in a hasty and often traumatic fashion, commonly referred to as ‘Baker Acting’ (named after the
“When someone has a vision or a passion that drives them, especially young people in poverty who too often feel unseen and undervalued, they cultivate the hope that their work will make an impact, whether that’s on the world or just their own lives."
Florida law of the same title), is far too often seen as the only solution. When someone is Baker Acted, rather than being met with patience and understanding, they are treated like criminals: deemed a threat and stripped of their dignity and choice in any matter. They are even kept from their parents for extensive, stressful periods of time, typically filled with isolation and bombarding interrogations from strangers.
Because of responses like this, young people are often filled with shame, embarrassment, and fear when faced with the idea of vulnerability with counselors. However, this fear and shame is hardly ever present when participating in the arts, as less stigma is associated thanks to the liberality and expressivity involved. Additionally, the pursuit of creation helps bolster a person’s sense of purpose and value. When someone has a vision or a passion that drives them, especially young people in poverty who too often feel unseen and undervalued, they cultivate the hope that their work will make an impact, whether that’s on the world or just their own lives. It can serve as an escape from the harsh realities of life, allowing them to have agency in at least one space and perhaps shape a society better suited to what they need. Regardless, it is enough to help someone gradually improve their sense of self-worth and importance in this world.
This is why we need a legally protected policy to ensure that all young people, especially those in poverty, have access to the creative arts and arts therapy in school. The likelihood of them having access to such resources outside of school is extremely low, especially when their parents struggle even to feed them. Extracurriculars are not typically seen as a high priority when your children are starving. Therefore, schools, another extremely impactful agent of socialization, have the responsibility to fill the gaps g
Who Are You?
by Rowyn Sam
Most of my art focuses on aspects of identity in some way, and this piece is no different. This photo was taken during the Prague Quadrennial in the Victor X (A Modern Prometheus Retelling) exhibit.
The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley is all about what makes us human. If it’s that we are capable of thought and metacognition, why is the monster considered a monster? He has both of these characteristics. How far from the norm must one be to be unrecognizable as a human? For the monster in A Modern Prometheus, his yellow eyes were the reason he was abandoned and labeled as a monster.
In “Who Are You?,” there are barely any identifiable human characteristics at all. It’s simply the silhouette. This begs the question: Is someone still human if the world finds them unrecognizable? Are you still human if you don’t know who you are? g
Photography
Designed by Saxon Anderson
Hermit Crab
Written by Alessia F. Prenda Illustrated by Harper White
I empathize with the aquarium hermit crab: Wary in her touch tank.
Hiding from hands that grasp and jab, Walking a line that looks more like a plank.
Each person who stops to gaze is Reduced to a shadow that looms. He could be kind behind those eyes ablaze, Behind the sweet lies that he croons
To lure me across the breach: That from him, I don’t have to run. My heart pounds apprehensively as he reaches, For what isn’t his “all in good fun.”
Molting season approaches, Find and adapt to a new home. Here, we are exposed to his encroaches Captive, far from familiar ocean foam.
If I were a crab of formidable size, Perhaps he’d rethink his choice. Pincers sharpened, I would rise He’d realize, of his conquest, none would rejoice.
I wouldn’t have to retreat.
I would proudly stand tall. He wouldn’t “take a peek.”
He’s entitled to nothing at all g
SCIENCE RAT
Written by Blythe Morgan
Illustrated by Harper White
To the laboratory rat
Sitting before me in a glass casket in the biology lab, Rendered to nothing but bones by the same hands who look your life:
I am sorry.
Though I have committed no crime against you, Nor knew you before your gilded containment, A responsibility stills exists
As we use your body for knowledge that will never benefit you.
I can’t help but stare at your crypt, Wondering what life you had.
I hope they did not hurt you
But with science comes a cruelty that I cannot protect you from. Your worth was minimal compared to the progress that could be made.
They cry necessity, but I cannot agree. Knowledge must have kindness; it must have heart. Please, tell me your name.
I would take you away if I could, Break that glass and bloody my hands. It’s a selfish desire, I know. You are only bones now; There is nothing left to protect.
To the laboratory rat
Who I hope reached a heaven I do not believe in, Surrounded by a warmth that can never be taken.
I will give you a name
So your gravestone shows you were loved g
RACCOON
Written by Taylor Ingrassia
by Taylor Ingrassia
I. Elegy
I see us on the side of the road: a deer near the new apartments an armadillo curled into its shell a possum flattened on the pavement in a state where we are being forced out & every day, the raccoon.
I think of us and see the raccoon
I saw each day on the roadside for two weeks, a state of constant decay on ground not even the vultures would touch
It was the summer of the hit-and-run when a man in a brand-new gmc denali decided I was in his way and wasn’t worth his time
It was the summer my friends said to me “I’m thinking about leaving this state I don’t feel safe here anymore”
& every day, the raccoon. The raccoon in the median the raccoon in the gaps between lanes the raccoon across from the elementary school not even that stretch of road safe for small things
It was the winter my friend called to say “you know, I think of you there and I worry, and sometimes I feel survivor’s guilt, you know, because I left”
It was the winter I realized someone has already mourned me and that this makes me lucky & every day, the raccoon.
More and more collisions on the new overpass one day, a body split apart by the guardrail a body that was still young
Just more traffic just another obstacle just another long drive home every day, more raccoons
and every day I’m more exhausted but who am I to be exhausted when I’m not the raccoon, really
I’m still in the car I’m driving it and I can’t get anywhere without it
II. Funeral
I want to leave my car on the side of the road & hold your soft body.
I want to make a bouquet of the brightest wildflowers & build you a memorial.
I want to close your eyes so you don’t see the world continue onward.
I want to bury you. I want your decay to feed back into something bigger than you.
I want to give you privacy. I want to give you peace. I want to deliver you home.
But I don’t. I keep driving g
Photography
Agri-Culture
Written by Morgan Fischer Illustrated by Harper White
The pixel pasture is never mowed, For ravenous creatures feast upon it With insatiable tongues. Lab-tested soil was developed To accommodate the beast’s every desire.
This algorithm pulls from the subconscious, And soars their minds into the hills of frivolous wants. Overwhelmed by the reality of limited bliss, They reap these fields of pleasure and Soak in the rainfall of hedonism That is always forecasted in these programmed plains.
Now, a New Age is ushered in by intemperance. The lands are dominated by competition and self-glory, And the gods of humility provide no aid in this mortal war. Empathy, love, praise: Caught in a chokehold of obliged reciprocity, But each posit such is owed to them. After all, the creatures submit their lives To the empty fruit of the pasture: Validation g
Cave and Went
Written by Morgan Fischer
The spectacle separates all.
Agents of isolation, Caught in the divorce of being and time. Existing in an unlived history,
A vegetable to time, The bison have strayed from the canvas. Estranged from the hunt, The animals are pacified by prepackaged meat. “It’s safer this way,” They say. “Everything comes at a price,” But They have monetized thought.
The caves have long been abandoned; But the walls cry for contact g
Illustrated by Peyton Poitras
PASSPORT
Illustrated by Claudia Hill
Reflections
During my time in Germany, I became enamored with the statues in the cities I visited. They seemed to demonstrate humanity’s capacity for feeling: our empathy and compassion along with our longing and sorrow. Each of the photos I have chosen to highlight has a special connection to my time abroad. Living in Germany for the past few years has stirred up similar emotions within myself—both the good and the bad. I chose to convey some of my most distinctive moments through letters to the statues, demonstrating my thoughts and emotions at the time. I hope I can make you feel something as well.
To the lady in Freiburg,
Do you miss home too?
There have been so many incredible places I have seen, and so many moments I have yet to have…
autumn nights in Salzburg staring up at the Pferdeschwemme and weekends making brigadeiro with the girls in Nuremberg...
but yet, I long for the quiet whisper of the Shenandoah. My mind gravitates towards hikes up Old Rag and drives in the Piedmont with the windows down.
It appears I have missed grandpa’s funeral and Will’s high school graduation. I feel more and more distant every day.
I always insisted on leaving, so why do I feel this gap in my soul?
Photography by S.G. Design by Claudia Hill
To the woman with the flowers, I have never noticed you before, but I am tipsy and it’s cold and you seem to be illuminating Tübingen’s streets.
Are you an angel in disguise? I could have sworn I’ve known you before.
My partner is rushing me home. I know he wants me to stick to my role- a supporting character in the movie that is his life… But all I want to do right here and now is to sit in the snow and stare at the wilted flowers in your arms.
They will call me a manic pixie dream girl for behaving in ways contradictory to their expectations. Can’t I just be me? Do I have to be a fantasy?
Dear Munich Wonderboy,
There are so many spectators crowded around you, waiting for a show. Do you ever get tired of being on display?
People say you appear sensual, but you just look lonely to me…
I have to wonder, are you also in your 20s? I’ve been in Munich for a while now and adulthood has never felt more real.
Do you ever ask yourself what comes next? g
Foreign Land
Written by Amro Aljoudi
Illustrated by Claudia Hill
They ask me back home how it feels, living in another man’s land. How did they wrong you? Knowing how they act.
I’ll tell you what I responded, deal? I promise it’s not that bad.
They press more; tell us about the racists, those cruel devils.
They press more; tell us about how their souls are darker than a crow.
Don’t they hate your skin color? And register your native tongue as hellish?
It’s complicated, I spoke; they didn’t listen.
It’s great! I am happy; they got upset.
I repeated: It’s complicated, they didn’t care. You will never be one of them, they said.
I knew that.
So, they ask again, how does it feel?
I say great!
Because I now understand,
To be happy, be true to what you value.
To live, however, is what it feels like, this “foreign” land. And life is what I value g
Domov nad Oblakmi
Photography by Peter Dosedla
Designed by Saxon Anderson
What do mountain cottages in Slovakia have in common? They are surrounded by soothing silence and connected by an intricate web of trails that separate them from the life down in the valleys. Isolation from the outside world might seem terrifying to some, but not to me; whenever I get the chance to hike to one of these small specks of civilization, high among the clouds, I feel as free as a bird because my troubles don’t hold me down to the ground. I can just focus on the present moment, and everything else is secondary g
AKHI MEANS BROTHER
Written by Fatima Sani
Akhi Means Brother is an award-winning piece of photography by Fatima Sani. It was selected as the Audience Choice photograph during the 2023 Global Initiative’s Photo Contest held by the Rollins Center of Global Initiatives in celebration of International Education Week.
Photography by Fatima Sani
Designed by Jose A. Alma Turull
The last time we spoke was a blur. You were going in and out of speaking English and Arabi while I struggled to keep up.
Every switch in your speech gave me a whiplash I could only mend with silence.
I wish you were here, Akhi. I wish you wanted to be here.
In the days that have passed, I’ve thought of ways of packaging our childhood memories.
I picture putting our primary school uniforms in suitcases bound for an orphanage.
I find the photographs of us building sandcastles at El Mamurah.
I take them out of their frames and flatten them into makeshift albums.
I find all the letters we sent back and forth during our first year apart. I set each one on fire and gather their ash in glass bottles. Akhi, these are things we should decide together.
When I first pick up the phone to dial your international number, I hesitate, thinking “what if he’s about to do the same?”
I don’t want us to miss each other because of how much we miss each other.
I dial the number anyway with the hope that we meet somewhere in the middle, salaams at the ready, and eager to find home in the sound of each other’s voices g
Photography by Peter Dosedla
Designed by Peter Dosedla
The Danger in Censorship:
Florida’s Recent Push to Constrain Education Through Book Banning
The recent pushback against multicultural, diverse educational material and conversations within Florida’s public education system demonstrates the danger inherent in the act of censorship. Perhaps the most damaging aspect of the conservative fight against liberal “indoctrination” is the banning of books that touch on subjects such as gender, sexuality, race, or systemic social issues within Florida’s classrooms. While Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature argue that the bills to constrain education pose no danger, it is important to thoroughly investigate the potential harm that the bills may impose.
Though Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature argue that their recent education bills within Florida’s schools are beneficial in that they remove “inappropriate” works, their acts of censure nevertheless undermine liberal values (like those of freedom of speech), which brings forth questions on whether or not the education bills in Florida are actually antidemocratic in nature.4 It can be argued that by constraining the scope of education in Florida, the anti-progressive bills impacting Florida’s public education system have a direct effect on education’s ability to mirror and demonstrate liberal values and upkeep democracy.
Diverse education materials—or education materials that involve topics like race, gender, and sexuality or are written by members of underrepresented groups—are important in that, by being engaged with, diverse education spreads awareness on identities and cultures that readers may be unfamiliar with. For a democracy to sustain itself, its citizens must demonstrate a constant dedication to democracy, which requires active education about and resultant sympathy for the identities existing within one’s community. Education, in this way, is integral to the upkeeping of democracy and, if constrained to not include information about minority groups, undermines the sympathetic knowledge obligatory
for democracy.
Philosopher Susan Wolf points out that if one wishes to learn about “one’s own culture,” one should aim to include all the different types of identities within that culture and that, through reading and learning about different identities, “…we come to recognize ourselves as a multicultural community and so to recognize and respect the members of that community in all our diversity.”5 In making such an argument, Wolf specifically claims that it is through access to diverse, multicultural books that an individual should explore the identities within their culture. Given this aspect of Wolf’s
“[T]he anti-progressive bills impacting Florida’s public education system have a direct effect on education’s ability to mirror and demonstrate liberal values and upkeep democracy.”
argument, the danger of banning such books is evident: without access to materials that provide information about other minority identities, not only will such identities fail to be included within the canon of the majority, but the majority may also fail in recognizing themselves as a multicultural community in the first place. The banning of diverse materials within public education in Florida directly endangers liberal values within the state and further excludes minority identities from being properly recognized, both of which are results that undermine Florida’s work toward equality and put at risk the democratic foundations of the state.
Written by Alise Fortune
Designed by Rebecca Meshel
Photos by John Schnobrich1, Priscilla Du Preez2, and David Pennington3
Perhaps one of the most important duties of the education system is preparing individuals to think critically, to form their own beliefs, and to make logical choices based on those beliefs. If the critical thinking of an individual relies on the expansiveness of their learning, it follows that the constraining of education through censorship and book bans directly limits the ability of individuals to form their own opinions, given that the fewer perspectives and information they encounter, the narrower an individual’s viewpoint will be. Florida’s Legislature must take this danger into account.
Apart from its importance for the upkeeping and perpetuation of democracy, the inclusion of diverse educational materials within the school system is crucial for the amelioration of society through positive social
“[E]xclusionary school systems tell students of minority status that the problems directly impacting them are not important enough to learn about and, thus, not important enough to solve."
change. Education is a necessary requirement for the recognition of social problems within a given society, especially social problems that are systemic and, thus, purposefully hidden or disguised. Since social problems most often directly impact those of minority status, it follows that many books dedicated to addressing social problems are written by those directly impacted; if such books are restricted from the education system, the minority authors of the books become further marginalized and the social problems addressed within the books remain unaddressed and unsolved, further disadvantaging minority populations as a whole.
The importance of diverse, multicultural education relies also on its ability to free the oppressed from systemic social problems and, in turn, free the oppressors. Multiculturalist philosopher Charles Taylor expands on the idea of the function of education for the oppressed within his conception of the politics of recognition, arguing that when diverse education is excluded from the classroom, “…students from the excluded groups are given, either directly or by omission, a demeaning picture of themselves, as though all creativity and worth inhered in males
of European provenance.”6 By instilling a demeaning image of minority groups through the omission of educational material that addresses the problems they are facing, exclusionary school systems tell students of minority status that the problems directly impacting them are not important enough to learn about and, thus, not important enough to solve. This rhetoric is not only damaging to students within minority populations but to democratic societies as a whole (especially societies that claim to be equal).
Moreover, the interaction between oppression and education is explicitly addressed in the work of Paulo Freire, who argues that education has the power to free both the oppressed and the oppressors from systemically unjust, discriminatory social environments. Within his conception of liberation pedagogy, he specifically claims that education can change the mindset of those from oppressed groups and that, in order to free themselves through education, the oppressed, “…must perceive the reality of oppression not as a closed world from which there is no exit, but as a limiting situation which they can transform.”7
Taylor and Freire come to a similar, robust conclusion: diverse, multicultural education is a necessary device for the recognition of social problems as not “a closed world” and it is education that provides the foundation for ameliorative social change.
To remove diverse, multicultural materials from Florida’s classrooms through book banning is to remove the opportunities for Florida’s youth to actively learn about the problems facing minorities within their societies and to prevent progressive social change. Florida’s minority population, freethinking citizenry, and liberal democratic structure are in danger of being undermined completely, a problem which Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature seem keen on ignoring g
“Florida’s minority population, free-thinking citizenry, and liberal democratic structure are in danger of being undermined completely."
don’t look away
Written by Aqsa Hasan Illustrated by Claudia Hill
it’s nothing you need to concern yourself with. it happens over there. don’t worry about it.
just look away, close your eyes.
it’s normal for them, really. it happens.
it happens over there: children crying, children dying, or becoming orphans before they are born.
school, student, rubble house, doll, rubble hospital, patient, rubble
why should you care? what can you do, when your money, your vote, your voice, mean everything?
what can you do?
don’t look away.
free palestine g
La Speranza è Sempre L’Ultima a Morire
(Hope is The Last Thing to Die)
Written by Nour Mansour
Art by Jose A. Alma Turull
Hope transcends every lucent light Every royal blue wave, Every land and sea It treads on our dreams Magic stardust illuminating our footsteps
Hope is a revolution, a revolutionary It sings at protests, a heavy tune Yet Hope still sings a song, To hear us call when we fall
That’s why to Hope is to have courage When we feel blue and sickly Of the innermost and lethal bullets of hate
Hope is a parent in need of their child Who will speak their right mind! And will blow stages apart with their potential Potency
Even when the world will turn a blind eye and heart to hatred
Hope is the courage to be a child again On your own terms When your worlds and environments told you “You can’t be” While masking as an adult for survival
Hope is kindness to what most thought was a wilted flower, Unaware of its beauty
Grown by the soil of resistance and community And the roots of freedom against oppression
Hope is pain and sorrow, Renewed and felt from a battle well lost It gives me, us, you, courage to try again To Love To HOPE
I heard That “To Hope is a Radical Act”
But not only is it a Radical Act, It is a Radical Act of Kindness, Bravery, Revolution, And a Revolutionary g
FOOTNOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY - CREATE ONE MORE TOMORROW: FUNDING THE ARTS TO LOWER THE SUICIDE RATE [p.11]
[1] Photo by Natasya Chen on Unsplash.
[2] Photo by Adrian Korte on Unsplash.
[3] Ford, M. (2020). Communication, identity, respect: A case study of collaborative music practice in a Community Music Project: Sciencegate. Music Education Research. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencegate.app/document/10.1080/14613808.2020.1763287
[4] Hylton, E., Malley, A., & Ironson, G. (2019). Improvements in adolescent mental health and positive affect using creative arts therapy after a school shooting: A pilot study. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 65, Article 101586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. aip.2019.101586
[5] Hoffmann, J. A., Farrell, C. A., Monuteaux, M. C., Fleegler, E. W., & Lee, L. K. (2020). Association of Pediatric Suicide With County-level poverty in the United States, 2007-2016. JAMA Pediatrics, 174(3), 287. https://doi.org/10.1001/ jamapediatrics.2019.5678
[6] Wade, L. (2022). Terrible Magnificent Sociology.
[7] Turner, C., et al. (April 2016). “Why America’s Schools Have a Money Problem.” NPR, NPR, Retrieved from: https://www.npr.org/2016/04/18/474256366/why-americas-schools-have-a-money-problem
FOOTNOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY - THE DANGER IN CENSORSHIP: FLORIDA’S RECENT PUSH TO CONSTRAIN EDUCATION THROUGH BOOK BANNING [p.33]
[1] Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash.
[2] Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash.
[3] Photo by David Pennington on Unsplash.
[4] “DeSantis Said Not ‘a Single Book’ Was Banned. Districts Have Removed Dozens.” WUSF, 1 June 2023, www.wusf.org/education/2023-06-01/politifactfl-desantis-said-not-a-single-book-was-banned-districts-have-removed-dozens.
[5] Wolf, Susan. “Comment.” Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition, Princeton University Press, 1994, pp. 75–85.
[6] Taylor, Charles. “The Politics of Recognition.” Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition, Princeton University Press, 1994, pp. 25–73.
[7] Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Bloomsbury Academic, 1970. University Press, 1994, pp. 149–163. ¬
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