Jason Reynolds: Stories of hope and connection

More than 1,000 educators joined award-winning author Jason Reynolds in a conversation hosted by the AFT’s Share My Lesson and StoryCorps to hear a post-election story of hope—that started with a fall.

“It begins with a fall,” he said, and shared the story of taking his nearly-80-year-old mother to the hospital because she had reached a point where, after being the strongest person in Reynold’s life for so long, she didn’t have the upper body strength to get back up. She didn’t sustain any injuries, but some routine scans discovered a long-hidden fissure that had probably taken years to develop and was now leaking through an opening in her skin. It would take five months of bed rest to address, followed by physical therapy to recover from the muscle atrophy that resulted from the bed rest.

“I suppose that the question that all of you are asking in this moment is, ‘What does this have to do with us?’,” Reynolds asked. “And the answer is rooted in what I've learned in this experience [with my mother].”

Referring to the current political division that is fostering fear and discrimination, he said, “What I've learned is that what we all now know, no matter which way you lean, there is something internal that has been dripping, and we have not seen it. … It has burrowed into the skin of our country, and it is leaking all over the place. It doesn't smell good. It doesn't look good. It definitely doesn't feel good. But the wound still has to be tended to.

“But while we're tending to it, we don't get to be distracted by the discomfort of it all. … In order for our children to have a fair shot, we have to tend to the wound … while at the same time, we have to move. We have to use the things that we have to create forward progress.”

For educators, he said, that might mean helping students navigate complicated times.

“If we sit and wallow in the fear, in the fighting, in the arguing, in the circus of it all, we will be paralyzed. We have to use our muscle … the muscle of your mind, the muscle of your heart, the muscle of your spirit. If not, there will be atrophy and your [students] will be wondering why you have become a statue, too.”

Sometimes, he said, that may mean getting involved in school board politics to make sure our kids are safe. It also means educators need to take care of themselves.

“All the things that adults need to do to manage and cope, we should do it. We should do so without judgment and do so from a pure intention knowing that we're all in the same boat doing the best thing for these [students].

“The truth is, some of us are upset, some of us are angry, and that anger is a real thing. So, at any given moment, if we can allow somebody else to scream, I think we should do so. … Human beings have no other person to lean on but another human being. It's us. We're here together. All of us.”

Reynolds also stressed the importance of remembering that art is a part of English and language arts classes, and allowing students to write creatively—even if it means bending some grammar rules—to tell their own stories.

“If they want to scribble their feelings across the lines, if that's what they feel like they need to do, if it's in a rap or a poem or some sort of song, if it's just a series of words, a list, all of those things should count as a way for them to express themselves and to tell their own stories.

“One of the cornerstones of all of [this] will always be our ability to listen, our ability to tell our stories, our ability to control our narratives, and our ability to celebrate each other, even in trying times,” he said.

AFT President Randi Weingarten noted that storytelling is important to foster hope and connection, especially during difficult times.

“It's just a reminder about the power that we all have as schoolteachers, as helpers, as people who help our kids discern the world and navigate the world, how important storytelling is. It's a work of teaching and learning. It's the work of binding the world together as a place that actually believes in the dignity of all,” she said.

David Isay, the founder and president of StoryCorps, encouraged educators to ask their students to participate in the organization’s Great Thanksgiving Listen, an activity that asks children to record conversations with their family members over the holiday weekend.

“We can't become a country where it's OK not to care about one another, and you all, educators, are the bulwarks against that,” Isay said. “When we just take the time to listen, and to remind kids that their stories, that their lives and their stories and their parents and their grandparents, they're important, and they're valuable … [we] kind of start building muscles around connection and muscles around trust in institutions and each other.”

The full webinar, accompanying resources and the Great Thanksgiving Listen toolkit are available on AFT’s Share My Lesson.

[Melanie Boyer]