Sometimes I’m floored by how when given the chance, young people use their voices to tell their own stories, to represent their own lives. I find it even more amazing when young people do so when facing misrepresentations and lies, half-truths told by those outside their lives. This is what children of color or poverty have to do. They have to tell their stories and find a way to make them heard above all the stories out there that often make it seem like there is only one story to tell: the one that’s always been told. These kids counter that story always told.
Yesterday, I saw one such example of a powerful youth counter-story. In response to a Diane Sawyer 20/20 special, “Children of the Plains,” young Lakota teens make their own counternarrative in this powerful video (see full story here).
Rather than overlaying my own rhetoric over this, I just wanted to share it with you as a teachable moment to share in your own classrooms. Spark open and honest dialogue with it. And, listen to the stories your students tell you. I bet you’ll be surprised what you find out. I always am.