I was presenting Raw Fiction at the The LGBT Center on W. 13th Street. It is one of the organizations that has been on my list from Day 1. People would ask me: Where do you want to recruit youth from? It's always been: schools and libraries, The Door and The Center, everywhere. It's one of the orgs that has been part of my New York awareness since I can remember, which makes sense because it was founded the year after I was born.
I was excited that Olin, the Outspoken Views coordinator, had invited me to present the project to his youth in person. When I showed up people couldn't find him so I sat down and started reading. A few minutes later the cutest guy came over and sat next to me and asked what I was reading. He thought I was a new youth. The beauty of being 30 is that when someone takes you for 17 (based on your looks) it is a wonderful compliment.
I got a brief tour of the YES (Youth Enrichment Services) offices then Olin rounded up the young people and we all sat around a giant round table in the Outspoken Views meeting room.
Raw Fiction was the theme of the day and an agenda was written on the white board.
The first activity was to go around in a circle and introduce yourself with name, preferred gender pronoun (PGP), age and why it's great to be your age. Olin, 29, he, went right before me: (30, she, but I don't care if I get he because sometimes I dress like a guy and look like a boi or a boy from certain angles) and thought the best thing about being 29 is that he's not 30 yet. Lucky he's so cute. One more year Olin, I promise the thirties are the best decade.
The next exercise was an ice-breaker. A group story that manifests one word at a time from each participant as it develops rapidly around the circle. Censorship was not a question, these are teenagers getting to express themselves safely, in a fun and silly way.
Then I did my project presentation. Gave a Q&A. Think it went over well. The youth seemed interested but how does interest manifest itself into action, the ever-hovering question. I was impressed by their creativity, I hope they all come. One youth declared web programming was easy. HTML, CSS what? no problem. Give me that one. Sign them up! Take the talk to the walk and Mentor Darwin will get you there.
The writing exercise that followed my presentation was pretty deep and I was happy when the young man next to me asked Olin to re-read the prompt. Which went something like this: You are standing on the train platform when the train burst into the station the air gushing into you and filling you up like a helium balloon you are blown into the air and pushed into the tunnel but it is there you realize you have not ended up in the subway tunnel but near the core of yourself.
So I wrote a piece about stomping around like a happy explorer on my heart. The young woman who sat next to me probably inspired the planetary-like exploration by bringing her love of Octavia Butler to the table during the Q&A. Butler is not on Raw Fiction's list but she probably should be. The list will definitely be subject to change depending on the interests of the youth involved in the project. This same young woman is a great writer herself and I hope she comes through with all her friends to the recruitment event. Some of the youth chose to express themselves visually and some intense sketches came from the exercise.
Olin's job reminds me of part of the reason I am doing Raw Fiction, I love working with youth. Sitting around a table full of teenagers and inspiring them to express themselves creatively is really the best job I can imagine.
Plus, Outspoken Views isn't just a meeting group but they produce a publication every few months. So the youth who participate are welcome to hand in their work at the end of the one-hour session as a means of submitting work to the zine.
Before I left I received the gift of a couple of past productions:
Thank you Nicole (the Youth Project Director), Olin and the youth of YES for being such an inspiration to Raw Fiction!
