For immediate release: March 6, 2025
Contacts: Rachel Perrone, 202-274-6759 or rachel.perrone@udc.edu
(Washington, D.C.) An event hosted today by the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) celebrated the release of Young Voices of the Anacostia River: Exploring Black Roots to the Eastern Shore and Back, a new collection of essays, poems and photographs by student authors from Anacostia High School. The book showcases their reflections on Black contributions to the environment and their personal experiences with nature in and around the D.C. region.
Young Voices of the Anacostia River is the product of partnerships between UDC, D.C. Public Schools, Conservation Nation, Editor and Nature-Wise Founder Caroline Brewer, and the U.S. Department of the Interior, with additional support from the Justice40 Initiative and Pepco as part of UDC’s Developing America’s Workforce Nucleus (DAWN) Initiative. Through immersive experiences in local parks, forests, and waterways over the summer of 2024, students documented their observations and connections to nature.
When I think about nature and what makes it beautiful, it’s
the greenery, and the scent of the leaves on trees as the wind blows.
When I think about nature and what makes it beautiful, I know
that I am nature. I am the sun. I am water. I am the wind blowing, pushing,
and prodding new seeds deeper in the ground so that they can
grow more plants, just like me. — “Natural beauty – A reflection” by Keon Hopkins
“This project is an incredible example of how education can empower young people to become stewards of their communities and voices for change,” said UDC President Maurice D. Edington. “We are proud to partner with D.C. Public Schools in providing impactful opportunities that inspire and tap into students’ creativity to explore their communities and career pathways.”
Over the summer, students strengthened their writing skills, gained confidence in public speaking and found their voices as storytellers. “Our Anacostia students have demonstrated the power of storytelling and their ability to reflect deeply on both personal and environmental histories,” said Anacostia High School Principal Kenneth Walker. “Their words give voice to the relationship between our communities and the world around us, and we are extraordinarily proud of them all.”
In a pond where lilies bloom
Fish swim softly in murky liquid rooms
Water whispers tales of old,
Stories in its ripples told
Green fronds sway in gentle flow
While the moon casts its silver glow
Peaceful, quiet, calm, and free
Now imagine more of this, for you, for me.
This is the life of the Aquatic Gardens. — “Where Lilies Bloom” by Kaishon Champ
Download a FREE digital copy of Young Voices here at the Conservation Nation website.
“In my work with Anacostia students, I’ve seen firsthand how connecting with nature can be a transformative experience,” said UDC Anacostia Ambassador & Justice40 Summer Internship Coordinator Xavier Brown. “Whether they’re writing about the river, tending plants in the greenhouse or reflecting on their place in the environment, they’re building confidence and discovering new possibilities for their futures.”
“At Conservation Nation, we believe that every student should have access to nature and the ability to see themselves as conservation leaders,” said Conservation Nation CEO Lynn Mento. “The creativity and passion displayed in this book are a testament to the bright future these young voices are helping to shape.”
Young Voices of the Anacostia River Editor and Nature-Wise Founder Caroline Brewer emphasized the impact of writing and exploration on young people. “These young people have taken flight with their words, becoming bigger thinkers, better writers and speakers,” she said. “This book is a testament that their voices matter and that they now know how to carry Mother Earth’s tunes.”
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About what the Anacostia High School students saw
with their own eyes,
and filtered through their lived experiences.
This book is about voice.
About what came from the students’ mouths
–rhythmically, poetically, chronologically, with vulnerability —
about what they observed, reflected on,
and processed alone and in community with one another.
And in the seeing and speaking,
they have given us a book to cherish
— a book of poems, essays, reports, and images
that reveals what they felt, emotionally,
what they touched physically,
what they tasted, and what they heard.
And we owe them our deepest appreciation,
because what they have given us is profound!
The book is about journeys,
each of us separately, and all of us together
liberating ourselves, flying, like the birds, free,
dismantling the shackles of fear,
overcoming our insecurities,
touching truth and becoming one with it.
This book is about partnerships.
Many thanks to Conservation Nation
for sponsoring my Nature-Wise program with
the students, to Xavier Brown for
inviting me in to host the literacy
and the environment training,
to Patrick Gusman, UDC, the
Department of the Interior and
NPS for leading the establishment
of this summer internship program
and enthusiastically supporting our efforts
to engage the students as thinkers, readers, writers,
and critical observers of their relationship to nature
and in how to become even better advocates
for sustainability.