Episode 6 | Young People's Pedagogy

In this episode we talk about what happens when grown folks get out of the way of young people organizing their own learning. In our conversation with Maria Cedillo, Jay Gillen, and Jon Gray of the Baltimore Algebra Project (BAP), we learn about ways youth in Baltimore have organized fugitive spaces of learning, organizing, and loving each other. BAP is a youth-led and organized space, meaning that while adults support the space, no one over the age of 25 is making decisions or organizing the work. Cesarina Santana Pierre, a DC-based elementary educator,  joins us again for Resource Room Part II with a story of how conversations about her students’ identities helped them to better know their community and themselves and Kabelo Sandile Motsoeneng shares a story of a queer South African boy’s coming of age. We invite you to think about the questions: What are you willing to risk in order for education to be the practice of freedom in your classroom? What must you unlearn in order to do this work? Send us your thoughts to: [email protected], dancingondesks.org, or on Instagram @dancingondesks.

Our guests would love to be in community with you! Deets are below.

Maria, Casa de Maryland’s Baltimore Rapid Response Services Coordinator and BAP alum, [email protected]
Jay, BAP co-founder,  [email protected] and 443-248-9032
Jon, BAP lead organizer, [email protected],  443-226-9444, ig @410_fsujon

INTELLECTUAL INHERITANCE

Texts

Borderlands/La Frontera, The New Mestiza, Gloria Anzaldúa
Teaching to Transgress, bell hooks
Troublemakers, Carla Shalaby
Nikole Hannah-Jones Twitter post
“Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors”, Rudine Sims Bishop
Teaching Central America from Teaching for Change
Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action Guiding Principles 

Music

“​'Tobacco” produced by BEATOWSKI
“Coffee” produced by FYKSEN
“Restore” produced by Jay 808 Beats
“Dust” produced by Mokart
“Suzie” produced by yogic beats
“Maple Gold” produced by 808 verb
Dancing on Desks theme music produced by Mara Johnson, Elliott Wilkes, and monét cooper