PROGRAM STRUCTURE
A Revolutionary Summer is a stress- and trauma-informed learning community. Our curriculum is grounded in brain science and compassion.
Because we understand the importance of the family/kinship system to Black children’s well-being, we require family participation, including parents and guardians attending the same restorative and social-emotional trainings provided to our staff each year.
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Dr. Joan Lessen-Firestone reminds us that "the relationship among fear, cortisol, and learning exists throughout life." Children must be calm and alert, must feel safe in their bodies and relationships to learn. The following core components ensure that we create the conditions under which learning is possible.
Greetings +
Nourishment
Acknowledgment of the mundane and divine in each of us. A hello with a kind, grow me/grow you purpose. Nutritious food, so that our bellies are full and we can show up as our core selves.
Yoga +
Mindfulness
Movement and technique designed to open the body's pathway to healing. Deliberate practice of paying attention, on purpose, in the moment, without judgment. Every Sunday workshop begins with yoga. (Don't forget your mat!)
Opening +
Closing Circles
Fundamental elements of ARS designed to build trust and community; used to develop and support our connections to one another and to help us challenge one another when our thinking may be harmful. Begin and end each Sunday workshop.
Political
Education
The Political Education component is a brief presentation on a relevant organizational theory illustrated in the book or other media under study. PE is to ensure we don't get lost in our opinions and that we understand the forces, oppressive and otherwise, organizing our lives.
Readers
Workshop
These are daughter-directed literature circles. The space within which you deeply discuss the week's artistic work. Sometimes gently guided by mamas and youth leaders, but only if you all need some invigorating questions to kick off or keep the conversation going.
Project-Based assignments
One year in Sunday workshop, we wrote diss raps to rappers who had disparaged Black women, just to honor our rage. Another, we recreated scenes from Carrie Mae Weems' famous project The Kitchen Table Series, and photographed ourselves. Project-based assignments are authentic, personal applications of something we've learned through the media under study.
SMall Group
Writing Workshops + Individual coaching​
Craft, peer, and one-on-one workshops aimed at developing and strengthening participants' writing skills. Coaches use a feedback protocol grounded in connection and designed to improve self-esteem. Writing workshops occur throughout the week and are facilitated virtually.
End-of-Summer
Product/
Presentation
Our annual creative gift to our community. Our end-of-summer product/presentation is tied to all other components and is grounded in liberation. Through it, we strive to explore ways Black women and girls might get free.
