Suashunn Harlan (2019)
Urban Youth Intervention and Creation
The Urban Youth Intervention and Creation project is a program dedicated towards the mental, creative, intellectual, and academic growth of marginalized students at Carver Middle School in South Central, Los Angeles. This project aims to counter cycles of trauma experienced in marginalized communities through exposing students to various ways of coping with symptoms of trauma such as meditation, breathing exercises, discussion, and art therapy. The program also centers around enriching students with exposure to a plethora of art mediums such as photoshop, filmmaking, clothing design, animation, and spoken word poetry. Introducing these tools and experiences to students is an effort to promote a positive shift in students life trajectories. The project will invite numerous community artists and healers to lead workshops with the students and will culminate in a student art showcase. The Urban Youth Intervention and Creation project ties together Suas larger life work of ending cycles of suffering in marginalized communities.
Letters Home
Biography
My name is Suashunn Harlan and I am a first generation college graduate from South Central Los Angeles, with a major in Social Welfare and a minor in Creative Writing. My time at Berkeley exposed me to many revelations surrounding the mind, heath, and trauma. I discovered my lifes calling to be a healer and educator through community work combining my skills in multimedia creative art with my ability to communicate effectively to any group of people. My focus will be on doing youth work in marginalized communities and teaching students skills such as photoshop, animation, clothing design, communication techniques, and a plethora of other mediums that can potentially ignite within them a drive to reach their future goals. After my Stronach project completes, I plan on attending graduate school to become a mental health therapist as well as writing novels covering many fiction genres. I dreamed of being able to create spaces in marginalized communities and the Stronach Prize has blessed me with the resources to begin that journey. If I am not trying to elevate souls to a healthier and happier frequency, you can find me playing video games, reading an Octavia Butler or bell hooks book, working on my novels, or a visual project.
