Literacy program empowers young people to author their own story
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DENVER — Vishnu Gonzalez always looked for a way to get out of class. During his freshman year at Manual High School, he was passing one class — gym — and he eventually had a failing grade in that too.
Now 20-years-old, he’s excited to attend a writing class every Wednesday at the Ford-Warren Branch Library in east Denver.
The class is run by the Brink Literacy Project, a nonprofit that offers literacy programs to people impacted by the justice system.
The organization has offered the class, called the Frames Comic Program, to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated adults for a decade, but Vishnu Gonzalez and his classmates are part of the organization’s first Frames class designed for kids and young adults.
“When we bring our kids into the space and we let them see for themselves who they are, what their stories are, who they're going to be, and what their communities are to them, it’s magic, said Valerie San Filippo, class instructor and education program manager at Brink.
“They are truly, truly brilliant individuals.”
Students study comics and storytelling techniques, while examining how the stories they tell themselves — or that are told about them — shape their lives.
Students who decide to stick with the program then develop a short graphic memoir about a turning point in their lives. (This continuation of the program is called the “masters course.”)
They can pitch that story for Brink’s in-house publication — a literary anthology — which is sold in bookstores across the country.
The program is designed to give students the tools to take control of their life story, both on the page and in real life.
“A lot of times, we think of these things in our head and it's hard to put them out into the world and reality. So [Brink] helped me through the process, actually step by step. I feel like a lot of humans need that help telling their story,” Gonzalez said.
Students in the program can range in age from 14 to 23 and many of them have some connection to the justice system, whether that means they’ve been arrested themselves or one of their parents is incarcerated.
Brink has worked with schools before to give guest presentations and incorporate its curriculum on those campuses, but this is the first time its offering this specific program, which is more in-depth, hands-on and student-led, to young people.
Juvenile offenses, especially for young men, correlate with a higher likelihood of incarceration as an adult. Children with incarcerated parents are also generally more likely to be incarcerated themselves.
The most recent data from National Assessment of Adult Literacy found that incarcerated adults are disproportionately illiterate compared to adults not in prison. Improved literacy is tied to lower recidivism rates for young people who have been incarcerated.
Dani Hedlund, CEO of the Brink Literacy Project, acknowledges those statistics and the socioeconomic factors that contribute to them. But she doesn’t want the program’s students to let the statistics write their next chapter.
“It's very easy in those situations to believe what everyone around you tells you about who you are. For me, it was that I'd end up an addict just like my father. Those narratives, if we believe them, become this terrible prophecy,” Hedlund said.
“It's very personally important to me, particularly when we look at youth populations, to destroy those narratives and replace them with something powerful.”
Brink aims to reduce incarceration rates in the first place by intervening at the beginning of the school-to-prison pipeline.
The organization launched its first classes with this group of students in the summer. Since this is a pilot program, Brink asked students for detailed feedback on how the class is designed. Students receive $50 Visa gift cards for attending each class.
Across all age groups, the program focuses on analyzing and writing comics. Comics are an easy entry point to engage students, especially those who haven’t had positive experiences in more traditional classroom settings, Hedlund said.
The visual element of comics adds another layer to the storytelling process; students discuss how different illustrations convey different meanings to the reader.
Students develop comics based on their own experiences, but they initially approach the story from a third-person perspective. This approach makes it easier for students to delve deeper into difficult moments and be vulnerable in their storytelling because it’s a character, not them.
“We have a lot of these experiences that we’re not really proud about but we start to realize that if we want people to understand us and really know who we are on the inside, we got to get vulnerable,” 18-year-old Beyjinaan Gonzalez — Vishnu’s brother — said during a class discussion.
The story that Beyjinaan Gonzalez is developing is about triumph, comeback and community, set on the east side of Denver.
Vishnu Gonzalez’s character is a 14-year-old explorer from outer space who crash lands on Earth in east Denver. Vishnu Gonzalez was shot at 14, which is the turning point moment in his life he chose to focus on in his story.
“Fourteen was the age where I transitioned my perspective of life,” Vishnu Gonzalez said. “[My story’s message is] through all the segments of life, you can involve yourself and just remain authentic to who you are and where you came from.”
When Vishnu Gonzalez first joined the class, he didn’t know what to think. He said he loves new experiences, but it takes him a while to relax and open up. Seeing his siblings and people he knew from his community approve of the class helped him feel more comfortable.
Beyjinaan Gonzalez said he was also skeptical about the class at first. But the nonjudgmental atmosphere and inclusive community made him feel safe to be himself.
“We all come with our little beautiful flaws, and one thing I think Brink does a great job of doing is just allowing that to be and exist,” Beyjinaan Gonzalez said. “Once one person feels the comfort to be quirky or just be themselves, I think it's a very contagious feeling throughout the circle.”
All of Brink’s classes are co-led by an instructor who has a similar lived experience or background to the students in the class, like Jaron Cook.
Cook said he appreciates that the program emphasizes mentorship over supervision. Rather than telling students what to do, he and his fellow instructors try to inspire them by setting an example.
“Without you, as a man, honestly I don’t think any of us would be as comfortable sharing our stories if we didn’t already hear [yours],” Beyjinaan Gonzalez said to Cook during class. His classmates snapped and nodded in agreement.
In total, there are four instructors in this pilot program, including a local writer and a school social worker, who initially introduced the program to this group of students.
San Filippo said meeting with this youth class is a bright spot in her week.
In the adult classes, one of San Filippo’s biggest challenges is helping students overcome negative self-talk, which has been reinforced over the years by the justice system.
But for the young people in this pilot class, that personal transformation happens with much less resistance.
“A lot of times [these students] have the cards stacked against them, but the stories that they tell here are extremely hopeful and extremely resilient because that's exactly who they are,” San Filippo said. “They are young and have every single opportunity ahead of them. The world's their oyster.”
San Filippo and her fellow instructors have begun reframing how they approach the program for youth.
“[The program] has gone from ‘what story do you tell yourself and how do you think about it,’ to ‘how does that story impact your future and how does it limit or break through all possibilities for your future,’” she said.
Beyjinaan Gonzalez is interested in photography and videography. He wants to travel, photograph other cultures and teach other young people.
In five years, Vishnu Gonzalez sees himself on magazines and television screens. If it all goes to plan, this won’t be the last time you’ll be seeing his name.
“I’ve always had this big ambition, but going through the Brink process…we all need steps and processes to really execute on what we want out of this life. Seeing the building blocks you have to take to get there is what it really showed me,” Vishnu Gonzalez said.
“I want this big world of mine, but how do we get there?”
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