Teen Team talks ‘Black love’ during Black History Month

MILLERTON — Having a safe space to engage in meaningful dialogue with their peers, the North East Community Center’s (NECC) Teen Team utilized its Restorative Circles program to honor Black History Month through conversations that focused on embracing love, allyship [sic.] and empowering others.

Reflecting on the collaboration between the NECC and The Meditation Center of Dutchess County in Poughkeepsie over the last five years, NECC Teen Program Director Jackie Osnato explained that restorative practices are a way to bring people together and “create equality of voice and a safe container where people can express themselves and be heard and seen.” 

Viewed as a nonviolent form of communication that’s both proactive and restorative, she said the Teen Team tends to focus more on the proactive aspects of the Restorative Circles, though both she and NECC Teen Program Assistant Meredith Hamilton are trained in restorative practices through The Mediation Center.

Hamilton said a circle typically begins with an opening to ground the group before moving through a check-in to see how everyone is doing. She said the group builds shared values and agreements, which, for her, is where the proactive aspect comes in. Through the continuity of circles and building shared values and agreements together, the teens build a community. Relationship-building, Hamilton said, is at the program’s core.

Among the values discussed in the circles, Osnato said they’ve talked about respect, confidentiality and trust and what those values look like to different people. When asked how the teens decide on a topic for their discussions, she said the Teen Team usually sends out a survey to its members once a month to get a sense of the topics they’re interested in. It was about a year ago, Osnato remarked, that a youth reached out to ask that it focus on Black History Month.

The teens’ first Restorative Circle on Black History Month was held via Zoom at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 11. Hamilton said the discussions were inspired by Instagram influencer Monique Melton’s (@moemotivate) words about embracing Black love during Black History Month and understanding that Black History Month isn’t just about Black trauma. Reflecting on Melton’s words, the teens talked about what it means to embrace radical love, what it looks like to honor that during Black History Month and how they can embrace that in their own lives. This conversation led the teens to their next circle on Thursday, Feb. 25, this time focusing on “allyship,” said Hamilton, and what it means to be an active ally for others.

Considering what this year’s celebration of Black History Month means to the NECC and its teen members — particularly after a year of social unrest and the rise in the Black Lives Matter movement — Hamilton said, “One thing for me that feels good is that Restorative Circles offer the opportunity to create a safe space to reach across differences and that we can all come together and have difficult conversations and really empower our young people to build those spaces in their own minds so they can have conversations.”

“I would also add honoring our students and what calls to them,” Osnato said. “I’m constantly amazed by it always. They’re extremely insightful and deep thinkers and those strengths get to shine in circles.”

The Teen Team currently has 18 active students involved in the Restorative Circles group, though the size of the circle varies from week to week and from activity to activity. 

Teen Team membership is available to high school students living in the North East (Webutuck) Central School District, Osnato said the program has open enrollment and any student interested in joining can reach out via email at teenprograms@neccmillerton.org.