Using Their Voices to Build, Not Ruin

The following article was written by Emily Lang & Kristopher Rollins, teachers at Harding Middle School:

As educators in Des Moines Public Schools, we have a platform with an audience of impressionable teenagers 40+ hours a week. First hand, we see how words can be extremely powerful if cultivated correctly.

Too often in our society words are used to hurt rather than heal.  In a neighborhood struggling to find a positive identity, we have, with the help of other passionate teachers, worked to create opportunities for students to showcase their talents, using their voices to uplift each other and shed light on the circumstances they face every day.

Three times throughout the school year students participate in “Share the Mic: Community Voices Creating Change,” an event that calls on them to write their own poetry and perform it in front of the community, while simultaneously raising money to donate to local non-profit businesses and organizations.

It is essential for students and youth living in low-income situations to have opportunities to take ownership of their communities in positive ways, deconstructing many of the negative stereotypes affiliated with poverty.

This year, take the time to examine your day-to-day interactions: whose voice needs help being heard? How could lending your voice to assist an existing organization help catapult them forward and allow them to serve more of the community?

Together, our voices will uplift and empower the current and future generations of Des Moines.

NOTE: The next Share the Mic: Community Voices Creating Change event takes place on Friday, January 27 at 7:00 pm at the State of Iowa Historical Building, 600 East Locust Street in downtown Des Moines. Admission is $5 for adults and $1 for students, with proceeds being donated to the Fort Des Moines Museum and Education Center.