Overview
Leading up to the Week of Action, educators develop and pose a prompt to students about what it means to be seen, honored, and safe in their schools and communities. We receive responses of all kinds, from poetry to photography, and everything in between and beyond. Student Creative Challenges are posted in January and shared in February. If you work with students, please use this as an opportunity for a class lesson and submit their designs for the video showcase.
2025
We invite students to submit a creative response to our annual creative challenge. This year, we offer three different prompts to choose from! Responses can include but are not limited to drawing, painting, collage, poetry, song/rap, or any other type of expression. Submissions will be shared in a video showcase shared later throughout the year.
“Standing on Their Shoulders” - Intergenerational Lessons for Liberation
Reflect on a time when you learned something valuable from a Black elder or someone from a different generation in your community. How did this lesson shape your understanding of leadership, joy, or purpose?
Design a Learning Environment Rooted in Black Joy and Intergenerational Wisdom
Imagine a school or program that centers on intergenerational relationships and Black joy. What would that school or program look like? Use all your senses—sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings—to bring this vision to life.
Lifting as We Climb: Black Youth Leaders in Your Community
Describe a Black youth leader in your community who inspires you. How do their leadership styles and values reflect the idea of “lifting as we climb”?
“Standing on Their Shoulders” - Intergenerational Lessons for Liberation
Reflect on a time when you learned something valuable from a Black elder or someone from a different generation in your community. How did this lesson shape your understanding of leadership, joy, or purpose?
Design a Learning Environment Rooted in Black Joy and Intergenerational Wisdom
Imagine a school or program that centers on intergenerational relationships and Black joy. What would that school or program look like? Use all your senses—sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings—to bring this vision to life.
Lifting as We Climb: Black Youth Leaders in Your Community
Describe a Black youth leader in your community who inspires you. How do their leadership styles and values reflect the idea of “lifting as we climb”?
+ Video Link & Image
2024 Collective Value
Our principle Collective Value states, “We are guided by the fact that all Black lives, regardless of sex assigned at birth, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, economic status, ability, disability, education, location, age, immigration status, religious beliefs or disbeliefs, matter. None of us are free until we are all free.” “If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all systems of oppression.” - Combahee River Collective
What can collective liberation mean or look like?
+ Video Link & Image
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Link: bit.ly/BLMAS24Challenge
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