Has Oppression Found a Home in You?

A reflective introspective course on ageism!

This course can be made available and personalised for groups and organisations. Please get in touch if you are interested!

DATES: 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th of March, and 2nd April 2023
TIMES: 11pm PST / 2pm EST / 6pm GMT on Sundays
WHERE: Zoom

ABOUT
“Childhood is much like being raised in a cage with little space to move around and express ourselves beyond what the bars – materialised as parents, family, school, social conditions – allow. Often, like with most of the cages we grow up in, we don’t notice it is even there.“
— Has Oppression Found a Home in You? (zine).

Has Oppression Found a Home in You? is a reflective, introspective course on the topic of childism and age-trauma, inspired by the workbook-zine of the same name. Using discussions, writings, and activities you will have an opportunity to gain a personally relevant overview of anti-child ageism as well as learn how it exists within the context of other oppressions.

This course is for you if…

• You have some understanding of marginalisation and privilege dynamics;
• You’ve been thinking about how anti-child ageism manifests, or are new to this concept, and want to dive deeper;
• You’re interested in building community with other anti-ageists and can embrace being intellectually challenged.

There are very few places to knowledge how the system of ageism affects us — this course will be a space to explore this with like-minded people. Has Oppression Found a Home in You? is open to everyone; adults, children, parents, teens, families, individuals and aliens alike, aiming to help us think critically and carefully about ourselves and our relationships with oppression whilst holding a space for tenderness.

The course is curated and facilitated by me, Aiyana Goodfellow, a Black, Queer, Neurodivergent writer, liberator and DELINQUENT. I am a young person myself, which is what makes this course even more unique. Not only are we tackling the woefully under-discussed topic of ageism, particularly the oppression of children, but this space is led by a young person with current lived experience.

LOGISTICS & ACCESSIBILITY

The course will run over five weeks, at 10am PST / 1pm EST / 6pm GMT and held on Zoom (therefore you must have access to the internet).

Each session will be 90mins long. Understanding of English, reading, and writing will be necessary for this course. Automated captions will be available. Sessions will only be partially recorded due to the vulnerable nature of the conversations we’ll be having, as well as the use of break out rooms. Please book if you feel you can truly commit to the dates. Active engagement is encouraged as this is an opportunity for adults to reckon with their privilege and for all ages to feel empowered with knowledge.

Our schedule:

1. Ageism 101 – 5th March 2023 – We begin to explore the basics of ageism, including what it is and how it functions within the context of other oppressions.
   
2. Schools are Prisons – 12th March 2023 – Investigating the politics of time, labour, authority, and disempowerment we consider the education system as a form of incarceration.
   
3. Fam, Blood & Boundaries – 19th March 2023 – What is a family? What are boundaries? How does the capitalist-defined family function as a unit of power and oppression?
   
4. DELINQUENCY – 26th March 2023 – We challenge our privileges, map out what adult solidarity with youth could look like and the empowerment of young people.
   
5. Reflective Introspection – 2nd April 2023 – The finale of our course. We reflect on previous sessions and have an open community-led discussion.

This course includes:

• five 90min live and recorded workshops;
• access to an anti-ageism community discord;
• a music playlist;
• a certificate of completion;
• a copy of my zine ‘Has Oppression Found A Home in You? A reflective introspection on age-trauma.’;
• a half-hour 1:1 peer support or consulting session for each participant.

My peer support practice is for young people as an act of solidarity in navigating an ageist world: My anti-ageism consulting is for adults who want help around raising, educating and interacting with young people, the school system, adult privilege, internalised ageism and much more, from my perspective as a teenager. These 1:1 sessions can be booked after course completion.

INVESTMENT
This course is a reciprocal investment of energy, time, and funds. Your investment will not only support me, but also a youth support fund to be launched after the course! I appreciate anyone and everyone who chooses to invest in anti-ageism. For accessibility, I have provided sliding scale donation suggestions…

• Tier Zero is a free scholarship for young people (18 and under only).
  
• Tier One is £50 for adults who are socially and/or financially marginalised (e.g. racialised, disabled, or displaced) and could not access the course without this tier.
  
• Tier Two is £50-99 for adults who are socially and/or financially marginalised (e.g. racialised, disabled, or displaced) and could not access the course without this tier.
  
• Tier Three is £100-199 for adults who have the ability to invest at the true cost or higher. Paying at this tier helps not only to compensate for my time and resources, but balance the scales for other course participants.
  
• Tier Four is £200-299 for adults who have the ability to invest at a higher tier. Paying at this tier helps not only to compensate for my time and resources, balance the scales for other course participants, but also sponsors an additional scholarship.

Applications can be made at the link below and are due by February 20th 2022. Payment is accepted over PayPal or bank transfer and payment plans are available! Nobody will be turned away and everyone is welcome. If you are looking to book for multiple people (e.g. as a family or organisation) please alternatively contact me here before the application deadline.