Mo’s Promise
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Solvers- I know I’m not alone in a hard year. When it rains, it pours, and there’s been a storm for a long time now. As a youth-worker, a math and history nerd, and a human-centered community member, these facts stay heavy on my mind.
My beloved college town, Asheville, the place where I became an adult and learned that I am, inevitably, a teacher, was drowned by Hurricane Helene. While the hurricane itself may not have been preventable, it never had to be this bad. The professor who encouraged and grounded my love of math, the close friends who showed me compassion and solidarity in painful moments, the artists who welcomed me into community, are still struggling to get power and water.
At least 426 trans people died between Trans Day of Remembrance last year and this year. Some names that stay with me are Nex Benedict, Robin Valentina, Teddy Reese Curan, Michelle Henry, Ev Smith, Tayy Dior Thomas. Christian nationalists and transphobic institutions continue to harm, disable, and abuse the trans people that survive. Trans youth are on the front lines of this violence and will be first to have their access to social spaces, academic resources, safety tools, and healthcare stripped away from them.
On any given day America incarcerates (on average) 50 thousand youth within the juvenile justice system. This is more than any other nation in the world. Youth are often kept in solitary confinement for 22-24 hours a day, restrained and assaulted, sexually abused, tried and incarcerated as adults as young as 12. In many communities around the country more money is spent on youth incarceration than education.
Since October 7th 2023, Palestine has been under constant siege and bombing. In the Gaza strip, at least 43,972 people, including 17,492 children have been killed. In the occupied West Bank at least 785 people, including at least 167 children have been killed. 87% of school buildings in Gaza have been destroyed. This past year of continuous assault is only the latest chapter in a long history of genocide in the middle east. People have died to share the photos and videos of dead children that keep me awake.
What I mean is- children are screaming and suffering and dying here, children are screaming and suffering and dying around the world. Children are screaming and suffering and dying and they deserve to be heard, cared for, and defended.
For years now, I have tried to stay in my lane as a teacher and a tutor. I have been quiet because I want to reach kids. I have been quiet because I know how many young people need somebody like me in their corner. I have been quiet because education is my calling and my survival I don’t want to lose either. I have been quiet because I am a young, disabled, working class adult and I need to eat and pay rent. I have accepted the sacrifice of my principles as a necessary cost. What I mean is- I have been afraid to publicly stand against oppression.
But my silence does not help kids. My silence does not help disabled kids who fear for their healthcare and community. My silence does not help trans kids who want to live peacefully and without terror in their schools. My silence does not help multiply marginalized kids who deserve somebody to fight for their joy and safety. My silence certainly does not help seventeen thousand murdered children in Palestine or tens of thousands more who are missing, starving, sick, in refugee camps, listening to bombs fall all day and night. What I mean is- this is my lane. What I mean is- every one of these issues is about, among other things, children.
Kids are smarter and stronger for seeing and understanding the world they live in. Given the necessary information, kids can make better decisions and take more earnest and responsible ownership of their lives and their choices. Kids are empowered to stand up for what they believe in when they see adults, average people, people who care for them doing the same. Brilliant, creative, vibrant kids are doing the hard work to advocate for their own rights and liberation all around the world. Educators who care about them are standing with them.
Youth artists in Western North Carolina are selling their work to raise funds for hurricane relief. Principal Tracie Anderson Swilley opened up an SC school for showers, power, and recreation because “I know the kids are going stir-crazy sitting in their homes without power.” My own professor and mentor is learning to post to Facebook so that the many people who love her know that she is safe. She posted recently that “The water is running, brown, not grey, but running. But students came back today, so I am smiling.”
Trans teens occupied the UK Department of Education. Youth leaders at the Gender Liberation March tied together all of the issues I’m discussing and more. Kids with big dreams and loud voices spoke their truth to power. Students organizing walkouts against local policy that directly impacts them confided in teachers, and were met with support.
Abolitionist youth training organizations are surpassing their fundraising targets. They are also into space. Youthworkers and youth advocates are unwavering in their commitments. Established organizers wrote heartfelt, earnest letters to the youth who work with them.
Before and since building radical, imaginative, creative, caring encampments, youth have continued to organize on campus for a ceasefire and a free Palestine. My own students have told me how they are supporting the struggle and I have seen them become more confident, more caring, and more skilled as a result.
What I mean is- youth and educators in the world and youth and educators in my life are steadfast to their values. What I mean is- they are the source of my hope. What I mean is- they show what is possible and what is necessary. What I mean is- they are afraid too, they have much more to fear than I, and I will not abandon them any longer.
What I mean is- if you need an ally, if you need solidarity, if you need care of any form in resisting structural and state violence, I will help in every way I am able. This year I have integrated my values into my tutoring practice in some key ways.
Formalized sliding scale spots on the website, and collected, highlighted, and added discount options to increase financial accessibility.
Added accessibility features to the website and video platform, including (but not limited to) alt text, live captions on Zoom, and the website itself.
Skilled up by reading about and participating in disability justice, racial justice, and economic justice, relearning to read nonfiction, volunteering with several local organizations, and attending teacher trainings through the Zinn Education Project.
In 2025, I commit to continuing to integrate my values by:
Offering sliding scale for all BIPOC students and all refugee students. The website will be updated to reflect this.
Writing about, speaking about, and working to end the harm that children experience every day at the hands of adults. I am setting myself a goal of one communication a month.
Partnering with other youth-workers and educators who risk their safety and well-being in the charge that we are given.
Sharing these values publicly on my website.
Until the end of 2024 I will also be offering $12 each off of two sessions to every client and student who emails, texts, or shares the new or continuing work that they are doing to address the issues I highlighted above. This includes (but is not limited to!) volunteering, public writing or speaking, fundraising, donations to individuals or small local organizations, or other tangible resource sharing.
If this commitment is a deal-breaker for you, I am beyond grateful for our time together, and I wish you and your kids the absolute best of luck moving forward.
However, if this type of values-integrated youth-work is important to you, if it is something you want more of in the world, if it is something you’d like to support, please continue to share my name, tip at checkout, and reach out for partnership. These are massive, complex, long-term problems.
Luckily, we’ve been practicing solving.