Miriam: A lot of what you’re talking about, this last 7 minutes is about power structures too, right? How do you define yourself in terms of your own power? I didn’t really ask about this – I still haven’t figured out how to frame these questions, but this idea that you have power and that you’re critiquing that, so you’re like, “I come from here, and I can’t go into somebody else’s life and start moving the pieces around on their board”.

Neil:

I think about my neighborhood – why aren’t I doing this in my own neighborhood, and where I came from? Why do I feel the need to - well, I know why I’m asking myself this question, and I know why do I feel this need to step out of where I originally came from and work with other communities like in Brazil, like here?

It’s because in my education I’ve learned about these other realities, and I’m grateful for learning that knowledge because I wouldn’t have had it otherwise – I’d have been ignorant to that. I feel like it’s my responsibility, having learned that information, to at least want to inquire more about it, and maybe even engage in it in some way, and work in it in some way. I think that there’s power in knowledge!

Miriam: How do you feel about your students you work with, and the youth that you work with? Where do you see them getting their power from, in terms of these workshops? We used the word empowered a little bit earlier. To speak more directly to this idea – you arrived with the power of your education and your background, and the fact that you’re the instructor and not the student, so what are they coming in with, and what do you hope they leave with in terms of this sense of their own power?

Neil:

I think that one of the things I mentioned to you earlier about the volunteers – just having some sort of semblance of an adult who is still cool and hip with it that they can relate to and look up to, is something that empowers them a lot I think. As well, just what we do in the program and the issues that we talk about. I think it encourages them to think for themselves, because that’s what a lot of our activities do – prompt them to respond to what we’re talking about, and to give their two cents. I think just discovering that is integral in any sort of empowerment.

To give anyone power, first you’ve got to basically evaluate or inquire about why you need this power. How are you going to get this power? You need to have some sort of plan, or some sort of steps that come before getting power. I think that Word has done a good job in being one of those steps. It’s not the answer to everything. Like you said, it’s not like they’re going to walk out right after and be like, “I’m empowered!” I think that it definitely has contributed to them being empowered for sure. Does that answer the question?

Miriam: I think so. I think you have to keep working on it. These very vague terminologies you’ve used – but I know what you’re getting at. It’s that I’m constantly worried about this thing of being like, “Okay, well I’m the one who’s directing this”, and I can’t be the one to give up the reins and be like, “This is your class guys, you do what you want!” But at the same time, I don’t want to sitting there being like, “You need to know this, and this, and to succeed in the world you need to act this way”.

Neil:

We think differently from them still. I don’t know - I don’t like thinking in the way that youth are less civilized than adults are. I just think that they don’t have the rich understanding that we do. When we tell each other something, we know right away when we hear it, to think about it on our terms and how it’s appropriate for us. For them, it’s just like, okay they are hearing this, and they still don’t know how to situate it. They’re saying it, but are they saying this as an order to me? “I don’t want to be ordered!” or like should I just try to completely emulate what they’re saying?

I think it’s a bit more difficult for them, because they don’t know themselves as well as adults know themselves, you know? I think self-discovery and learning about yourself – the only way that you learn about yourself is through new experiences. That’s the key to being empowered. You have to challenge yourself. You have to put yourself into situations where you may not always feel comfortable. That’s the way you learn.

The fact that there are certain participants that were stone cold silent who didn’t want to talk, but still showed up all the time – those kids always impressed me more than the kids who were so vocal and participating. I think it’s very valuable for them to get out of their comfort zone, because it shows they are challenging themselves, and want to better themselves. That’s what I’m thinking.