Art Meza

To Witness. For me, to bear witness is to hold space for another person. To be present for their sacred humanity. It is a way of saying: I see you. Your existence matters. Your achievement matters. Your happiness matters. This moment matters. I am here with you in it. The Joy of bearing witness feels a bit like evidence. Proof that says, we were here. Maybe that is why it reminds me of those old junior high bathroom stalls covered with carved names and declarations. “So-and-so was here.” A...

By Melanie Berru There are two versions of Martin Luther King Jr. The one murdered. And the one they carefully resurrected. The King who was murdered had grown dangerous. Dangerous to power. Dangerous to empire. Dangerous to capitalism dressed up as democracy. Dangerous to a nation that preferred symbolic progress over real structural change. The King who was resurrected was safe. Smooth. Easily digestible. A man reduced to a dream, polished and replayed once a year, stripped of the parts of...

In every lesson, honor the human story. At a very young age, I began to teach in an untutored and natural way. My work has always been rooted in people. Before curriculum, before policies, before institutions, there are lives. I have made it a personal responsibility to stay close to the pulse of the people I serve. Who are they? What do they carry? What are their dreams, their needs, and their conditions? How can I stand beside them, not above them, in their journey? To teach in a human...