Dearest Courtney, your wish is my command so I just donated to GG and bought the book! Please keep making these recommendations! And what about “making love” — to everyone we know including to yourself, and all you can reach in a spirit of caring and compassion?
Sharron and I have been reading books to each other. It’s really uplifting in these hugely challenging moments. This includes Sara Pennypacker’s amazing “Clementine” series that’s hilarious to share at any age, even octogenarians like us!
YESSS! Yes, Courtney. I am here for it. The making, the being together -- as resistance, as fortifying. It has felt so easy to dismiss the power of it in the face of enormous, overwhelming injustice. And at the same time, it's starting to feel like one of the most powerful tools we have. I think it permeates so much deeper and further than we realize. I'm thinking about it all the time these days. Thank you so much for these pictures and reminders of it. Girls Garage sounds so cool. Also, Nick Offerman!🥳 So excited about this new book.
Who knows better about how we need the widest variety of humans to build the world than the disability justice community?! That's a layer I hadn't thought about til you weighed in here, Rebekah, and I was reminded of your little girl self inventing all kinds of creative ways of moving through your environment. Thanks for reading.
Anytime I see children, & young people working together with adults, building, creating together with their hands & minds, my heart sings. Thank you for this great story.
When I was in grade school, public school, in the late fifties in one of this nation's largest cities, woodworking was required for all children, male or female, starting in first grade.
It was hand-tools, of course- saws, clamps, hammers, screwdrivers, saw horses...
We always made something related to the social studies unit- harbors, airports, dairies...
It was my favorite class.
When we were in first grade, my sister and I were assessed to skip a grade. As part of that, they asked us our favorite subject in school. My sister said reading. I said woodworking. My parents had some concern that was a bad answer!
Once we got into junior high, grade 7, the practical skills classes became differentiated. The boys all took shop. Girls did cooking and sewing.
I don't remember any vocational education requirement in high school, but both my daughters had such a requirement in high school in the early 2000s.Then, however, it was courses like accounting and digital design.
Woodchuck for President! I was just having a conversation on the act of making with a dear friend. We were talking about the potential revival of a beloved food swap she started years ago but that fizzled after a time. She was saying that it may seem silly to others, but how strongly we felt about the power of making and sharing. It's within these small communities that we develop the skills for organizing, mutual aid, tackling problems and nourishing folks. Let the making commence!
There’s something grounding in the pairing of protest and sandwiches. It suggests that civic engagement and domestic care belong together. It made me reflect: perhaps rejoining the human race by hand is less about nostalgia and more about agency. When so much feels abstract and algorithmic, using our hands restores scale—we can’t fix everything, but we can make something tangible.
lovely! so glad i learned these making habits from parents who came of age in the great depression when everyone needed to make their own stuff
Dearest Courtney, your wish is my command so I just donated to GG and bought the book! Please keep making these recommendations! And what about “making love” — to everyone we know including to yourself, and all you can reach in a spirit of caring and compassion?
Sharron and I have been reading books to each other. It’s really uplifting in these hugely challenging moments. This includes Sara Pennypacker’s amazing “Clementine” series that’s hilarious to share at any age, even octogenarians like us!
Love, DD
YESSS! Yes, Courtney. I am here for it. The making, the being together -- as resistance, as fortifying. It has felt so easy to dismiss the power of it in the face of enormous, overwhelming injustice. And at the same time, it's starting to feel like one of the most powerful tools we have. I think it permeates so much deeper and further than we realize. I'm thinking about it all the time these days. Thank you so much for these pictures and reminders of it. Girls Garage sounds so cool. Also, Nick Offerman!🥳 So excited about this new book.
Who knows better about how we need the widest variety of humans to build the world than the disability justice community?! That's a layer I hadn't thought about til you weighed in here, Rebekah, and I was reminded of your little girl self inventing all kinds of creative ways of moving through your environment. Thanks for reading.
Forwarding to all my friends with young daughters!
Anytime I see children, & young people working together with adults, building, creating together with their hands & minds, my heart sings. Thank you for this great story.
Blessings, Brian
Love this! I had to google what a chopsaw is 😂
I love the woodworking center.
When I was in grade school, public school, in the late fifties in one of this nation's largest cities, woodworking was required for all children, male or female, starting in first grade.
It was hand-tools, of course- saws, clamps, hammers, screwdrivers, saw horses...
We always made something related to the social studies unit- harbors, airports, dairies...
It was my favorite class.
When we were in first grade, my sister and I were assessed to skip a grade. As part of that, they asked us our favorite subject in school. My sister said reading. I said woodworking. My parents had some concern that was a bad answer!
Once we got into junior high, grade 7, the practical skills classes became differentiated. The boys all took shop. Girls did cooking and sewing.
I don't remember any vocational education requirement in high school, but both my daughters had such a requirement in high school in the early 2000s.Then, however, it was courses like accounting and digital design.
Woodchuck for President! I was just having a conversation on the act of making with a dear friend. We were talking about the potential revival of a beloved food swap she started years ago but that fizzled after a time. She was saying that it may seem silly to others, but how strongly we felt about the power of making and sharing. It's within these small communities that we develop the skills for organizing, mutual aid, tackling problems and nourishing folks. Let the making commence!
Yes! So well put.
Wondering now how to bring this energy to my small town. Wishing we had a kids’ garage/woodshop, too.
Maybe a little crew could start one in a garage? Doesn’t have to be fancy.
Love this Courtney! We are in the process of designing new schools in Denver and Detroit and are hoping to incorporate this philosophy around making!
Wow! That sounds incredible! Go go go
amen and amen
Wonderful story. Thank you! (from a musician)
Yay! Thanks for this bright piece— shining a light on something so great.
There’s something grounding in the pairing of protest and sandwiches. It suggests that civic engagement and domestic care belong together. It made me reflect: perhaps rejoining the human race by hand is less about nostalgia and more about agency. When so much feels abstract and algorithmic, using our hands restores scale—we can’t fix everything, but we can make something tangible.