Aaron Jafferis

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Arts Discipline: Literary Arts & Storytelling
Curriculum Connection:

Teaching Artist Legacy Statement

I'm a fire-stoking nerd / who uses theatre arts / and spoken word / to open minds and broken hearts.

I find rhymes / precise as a laser knife / between a student's own life / and school-fostered book smarts.

My students use hip-hop / to unearth / a historical system, / then flip-flop it to give birth / to brand-new wisdom.

I grow geniuses of collaboration and emotion / who'll turn a physics problem, a fraction, / a lesson on long division or the ocean, / into a metaphor for something else, / or a window into themselves.

(Soy poeta y rapero. Abro las mentes de mis estudiantes al mundo entero.)

Component Type School-wide Performance
Grades 9, 10, 11, 12
First Language English
Other Languages Spanish
Professional Links

www.aaronjafferis.com

Testimonials

"Your presence with our students is winsome, authentic, and inviting - and your talent is tremendous!"
- Scott, Manager of Education at Seattle Children's Hospital, WA

Description

In this interactive spoken word performance exploring his misadventures growing up white in Connecticut, Aaron attempts to liberate his people - as soon as he can figure out who they are! What Is Race is a solo tour-de-farce asking how race is constructed in each of us, and how to free ourselves from the power dynamics racism maintains. Pre-show consultation with students and staff allows Aaron to tailor each show to challenge and nurture each school's specific demographics and needs. Accompanying spoken word workshops invite students to rewrite their intersecting identities to challenge racism's story of who they are.