2000-2005: Jasmine Dorsey “This program is the reason I graduated high school.” I didn’t belong to any crew or group in high school because I always felt so different. I always felt alone because I felt too mature to even have friends in high school….
Read More
1995-2000: Michael R. Jackson Photo Credit: Zack DeZon “Literally every aspect of my writing career came because a teacher encouraged me.” I’m Michael R. Jackson, and I’m from Detroit, Michigan. I grew up on the west side of Detroit, right off the Southfield Freeway. Growing…
Read More
Thriving Together is a three-year-long environmental justice and creative writing program led by the Detroit Zoological Society and InsideOut Literary Arts. In the summer of 2020, we quickly transitioned the program online after stay-at-home orders were enacted. “While students would normally be wearing waders in the Detroit River and…
Read More
InsideOut Literary Arts was held up as a literary organization that nurtures and uplifts Black voices across the United States.
In 2019, the Detroit Free Press found that “ninety percent of teachers and principals across the Detroit Public Schools Community District reported that more than half their students have been impacted by trauma that impedes their learning.” Addressing trauma and the social-emotional needs of our students has always…
Read More
This year, InsideOut is focused on supporting our students and embracing opportunities that lie in the unexpected. We understand that students have experienced a great deal of change and uncertainty over the past 6 months, and we want to be as sensitive and responsive as…
Read More
