PUBlications

Poets in Revolt!

A Call to Action by Young Writers

Tasting notes: program design, art direction, editing, project management, partnership, amplifying youth voice

Whether it’s the March for Our Lives, the Youth Climate Strike, or Black Lives Matter, young people are at the frontlines of combating injustice and changing the world. Poets in Revolt! brings together a diversity of student voices from communities across the country as they write to claim a brighter future.

Featuring a foreword by inaugural poet Amanda Gorman, and powerful portraits of participating poets by artist Kate DeCiccio, the book is an important document of this moment in youth voice and activism. I co-conceived of the project, designed the program, art directed the book, and managed its many parts alongside the team at 826 National. You can purchase the book here.

Lagniappe: Check out this video about the book, featuring the voices of students, created with the team at Barkley.

History Between These Folds

Free the memory.

Tasting notes: curriculum design, art direction, editing, project management, amplifying youth voice, documenting powerful personal histories

“I’ve read the essays in this book at least 10 times each, not because I have to but because I don’t think there is another book like it in the world,” writes Kiese Laymon, acclaimed author of Heavy, in his introduction to History Between These Folds, a book by 100 11th graders in a US History class at Carver High School. History Between These Folds collects their work about family, neighborhood, identity, and New Orleans–reconfiguring how we think about ourselves in relationship to broader sweeps of history.  

I lead our team at 826 New Orleans in executing this powerful project: writing curriculum, leading workshops, recruiting volunteers and Kiese Laymon, art direction with designer Tasheka Arceneaux-Sutton, editing the book, and promotion. The book sold out its initial printing and continues to be widely read in New Orleans and beyond. You can purchase the book here.

Lagniappe: You can find a powerful video of the young authors here.

I Want You to Know Something About Me

Letters about the election of Donald Trump by New Orleans youth.

Tasting notes: art direction, editing, project management, rapid response

On November 9th, 2016, the day after the presidential election, my team and I visited a first-grade classroom and asked, “What does a great America look like?” Amongst the responses, we heard “take care of bugs and animals” and “sharing and having fun”. These young New Orleanians made us hopeful, made us laugh, and made us think. From there, we held letter-writing workshops in classrooms in schools throughout New Orleans, at the Gentilly branch of the New Orleans Public Library, and collaborated with students in our own programs.

This collection of letters culminated in I Want You To Know Something About Me. Featuring a beautiful cover by the artist Carl Joe Williams, it was released on January 15th (right in time for Inauguration Day). These letters range from angry to hopeful and offer powerful insight into how to move forward as a country. It can be purchased here.

Courageous, Eccentric, Diverse

New monuments for New Orleans.

Tasting notes: art direction, editing, project management, amplifying youth voice within a major civic conversation

When four Confederate monuments were taken down from public spaces in New Orleans in April and May 2017, we knew we needed to hear from young people as our city began to re-imagine public space. Written by the third graders of Homer A. Plessy Community School, this book is about who and what should replace the recently-removed Confederate monuments in New Orleans. From pelicans to Ruby Bridges to beignets to the Houma Tribe, Courageous, Eccentric, Diverse is full of spectacular suggestions for New Orleans's public spaces—space meant for all people.

The book was a viral hit, featured on Buzzfeed and elsewhere after the author Daniel Jose Older posted it on Twitter. The book sold out in New Orleans and was shared at public meetings throughout the south as communities explored the future of their own monuments. You can purchase the book here.

Lagniappe: “People Are In Love With These Kids' Ideas For What To Replace Confederate Monuments With” - July 7, 2018, Buzzfeed.

Big Class No. 2

A box of creativity and collaboration.

Tasting notes: art direction, editing, project management, design meets handmade

After the first Big Class book was complete, I asked students what they wanted to do for their next project. “Five books!” one eager 7-year-old responded. 

Realizing students’ desire to interact with the first Big Class book, we commissioned artists from around-the-country to illustrate the students stories in “colorable” formats. We collected all the work in a special gift box set.

After the trilogy was complete with Big Class No. 3: The 504, we staged a gallery show of the over 70 illustrations that had been contributed from around the country.