Welcome to the team!
Re-introducing, Bethlehem Girma!
Pictured: Beth and Freedom Schools scholars participating in this summer’s Day of Social Action (DOSA).
Beth Girma is our newest Restorative Justice Coordinator! Beth is an invaluable two summer member of WA-BLOC’s Freedom Schools and a dear friend to many in the organization. They bring a vibrant and wholehearted approach to youth and liberatory work and truly leave a trail of joy wherever they go. This school year we are lucky to have Beth at John Muir Elementary (as well as a couple other partner schools). This month she has begun building community with students (read: throwing down in games of kindergarten tag at recess), supporting teachers in circle keeping, and facilitating Junior Circle Keeper Academy. Beth was kind enough to do a mini voice note interview with me to tell us more about her position and what she’s excited about.
One of the things Beth is most jazzed about is Junior Circle Keeper Academy. Beth details, “That is an eight week long program with fourth and fifth graders at each of our partnering schools where we go through and talk about elements of circle and get to community build with one another, and eventually, after the eight weeks, we'll have a little graduation celebration and will help them facilitate with circle with some of the younger kids, so that's actually one of the things I'm really excited about.” Many kids are still getting to know each other in this program so Beth is able to start fresh with them and really build out their dream community space.
Another source of excitement for Beth is drawing on their Ethiopian heritage, “I've been working with a couple youth who are English Second Language speakers who speak the same language is me— Amharic— and it's been really awesome to get to know them through that language and help kind of facilitate the reading in the learning; by using that common language as a bridge.”
In addition to John Muir, they’ve also been spending some time at Lowell and Emerson, where Beth gets to flex one of their greatest strengths: PLAY. Beth shares, “I've gone to lunch and recess and, not to brag, but I really throw down with the games and facilitating the games today was really fun.” Picture 25 delightfully screaming kindergarteners chasing after Beth, ready to turn all their playfulness into genuine connection. It’s no surprise, Beth’s energy is infectious!
Having spent the past few years in Whatcom County, Beth is excited to be back where she shares in the cultural identity of South Seattle students, “There are so many Ethiopians and East Africans In the South Seattle Neighbourhood so I found that always like really welcoming.” Over the years she has taken up work involving education, youth, and the arts, with throughlines of liberation and resistance efforts. Reflecting on Freedom Schools as Beth’s gateway into WA-BLOC, “Justice, equity, liberation, and freedom was an intentional part of the program. It wasn't something that I as an individual who holds these values had to kind of sneak in.” This next season of work for Beth is sure to be inclusive of all she’s picked up along the way, and WA-BLOC is grateful to learn from her. Be sure to check out the Unchain Whatcom Penpal Project to see some of Beth’s brilliant work.
As we’re closing out, I ask Beth what media they’ve been consuming to find joy and/or to weather this political climate we’re in. While naming Octavia Butler, Toni Morrison, and Maryse Condé, Beth asserts, “I do find it fascinating the legacy of incredible, incredible work that's been done by black women throughout history that really reflects like the struggles of their time and I think I could find strengths in the parallels of that and the way that they survived and resisted as well.” A careful reminder that our struggles are not novel and this moment calls for even more presence. “There's just so much out there that we can look to—not to escape because I don't think we should be escaping—but I think we should be learning and engaging in. The world that existed before our current moment today, and recognize that it's not over. It’s not futile to push back and resist. It's actually necessary and people before us have done it as well.”
- Interview by Alyx Alcala
