Giving Name to the Nameless: Project NIA's Anti-Violence Curriculum Resource

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Giving Name to the Nameless: Using Poetry as an Anti-Violence Intervention for Girls and Young Women

Project NIA offers a new way of thinking about crime and violence. We use the principles of participatory community justice – often called restorative or transformative justice – which has been shown to meet the needs of victims, reduce recidivism, and improve satisfaction with the legal system. Community-based justice models redefine the goals of the criminal legal system to include the prevention of crime as well as community member involvement in addressing crime. We believe that communities are strengthened when local citizens participate in responding to crime, delinquency and violence because they are more likely to tailor responses to the preferences and needs of victims, perpetrators, and their neighbors.

The use of literature and guided reading has been recognized as a viable option for helping young people address their concerns. Poetry is a particularly wonderful way to address sensitive issues (like sexuality, violence, and self-esteem). When young people (or adults for that matter) see something of themselves in a piece of literature (books, poetry), identify with the work, reflect on it, and undergo some emotional growth as a result of that reading experience, this can be considered a successful anti-violence intervention.

The new curriculum resource developed by Mariame Kaba with contributions by Caitlin Ostrow-Seidler. The guide includes over 30 poems that address gender-based violence as well as tips and suggestions for individuals who are interested in facilitating poetry circles with girls and young women.

This curriculum is part of Project NIA’s "Exploring the Roots of Violence" initiative that launched with the release of our Something is Wrong guide in February 2010. Something is Wrong was developed in collaboration with Teachers for Social Justice and the Chicago Freedom School.

Other curriculum resources will be developed and released in 2011 as part of this initiative. The goal of the "Exploring the Roots of Violence" initiative is to develop and disseminate free or low-cost tools and resources that educators and organizers can use to address violence in the lives of young people.

To receive a PDF copy of the guide (at no cost to you), please visit: http://www.project-nia.org/event_poetry-circle.html