Deep Conversations & Confidence - Reflections on the 2026 Journeying to Justice Conference

​On April 30, 2026, over 130 Humanities Amped students, family, educators, and community members gathered together to amplify youth voice in the name of justice. This youth action research conference, Humanities Amped’s first since 2019, was a long time coming, and it was inevitable. The depth of study, research, writing, creation, and critical analysis that has taken place across Amped programs this year was simply too much for the classroom walls to hold: our students’ work demanded to be seen, to reach beyond the Amped family to the community at large. As the school year comes to a close, we are proud to share these reflections with you.

The conference was a sacred space for young people to support and learn from each other

​In the words of one Amped junior, “This was my first conference ever, and at first I was nervous because it was like nothing I’ve ever done before. But when I first got there, all my stress went away.” According to the students, the conference crowd was an extension of the Amped family they have grown to love and trust at Tara High School: engaged, supportive, and ready to listen without judgment.

Despite this being many students’ first experience sharing their work publicly, the environment of this radically youth-led space helped transform their nervousness into confidence. A senior shared, “I’m pretty sure everyone had a little bit of nervousness, but everyone still showed up and did their best, and I just really like that we all did our thing even though we was feeling those things.” Another student shared, “Even though the main point of the conference was to share our ideas, it was fun.”

The conference helped students to mark their own growth

Reflecting on the experience of presenting at the conference, especially for our seniors, meant reflecting on years of growth. Students who were once afraid to share their work in front of an audience found that they could persuasively share research and lead conversations out in the world. As one senior explained, “I came in this class, and when I heard this was something we was doing, that was the most nervous I got about it. [When] we did our presentation [in class], I was up here voice cracking, not looking at nobody. But as we got closer, the more I was confident in what we were doing, and knew what I was talking about. We got there and I was just like, it ain’t even a big deal anymore.” Amped students developed strong scholarly identities this year, finding that their commitment to sustained research meant that they could speak confidently on topics that matter to them.

The conference made space for conversations that students should not only contribute to, but lead.

​As one Amped junior explained, “We’re put in this box of like, kids are immature, we can’t do things like this. But seeing everyone actually lead presentations, talking to adults about real world problems, really stuck with me, because I’ve never been able to do anything like that.” After student panelists shared their research on self-selected topics like immigration studies, criminalization studies, and family wellbeing studies, they engaged in critical conversations with the conference’s participants. As one Amped junior remarked, “We had real deep conversations. It wasn’t just us commenting, it was the people there, too.”

In her reflection on the conference, another junior shared, “I loved the fact that we were able to put real-world experiences into perspectives to where people could understand it. It opened up a lot of conversation and it also opened a lot of people’s eyes.” She went on to describe a candid, intergenerational exchange of ideas on the topic of mental health, a conversation that revealed cultural shifts that often lead to conflict between youth and adults. She shared that “I never anticipated the conversation that happened to happen.” She explained that she went into the conference thinking, “It’s just probably gonna be, we’re gonna read our writing, we’re gonna explain the slideshow, and then we just gonna go about our day because nobody’s probably gonna want to talk. Probably it’s just gonna go in one ear and out the other.” Instead, she found that “people were actually more understanding and more open to learn,” a strong testament to the power of youth voice.

What’s Next? The conversations we had at the conference are already rippling out into the world

​The conference is not an end point: it is, rather, another step on our shared journey to justice. In the words of one Amped junior, “I think the next thing is to just keep talking about it in more open spaces. Because if we were able to touch a small group of people, then I know we can touch more people. Especially considering the fact that they dove deeper into the conversation, they didn’t just hear that and walk out, that’s probably something that stuck with them. So if it stuck with them, they’re gonna take that into their lives and actually start to apply it, which will better the person around them. So if we keep talking about it and we reach more people. We could touch just enough people to restore the world, or build a world that’s not based off of comfort, and is actually based off of love.“

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In addition to celebrating youth voice through research, writing, performance, and youth-led workshops (see the full list of student presentations here), we had the honor of presenting our Amped Community Awards. This year’s Susan Weinstein Greenhouse Award was presented to Tara High School principal John Hayman. Mr. Hayman is a champion for young people and for Amped, and we are grateful for his many years of support and advocacy that have helped our community to grow!​

The Bobby Thompson Humble Hero of Social Justice Award was presented to Dr. Andrew Kuo. Dr. Kuo has been a long time supporter of Humanities Amped, serving this year as a research mentor for a team of Amped juniors and providing live musical accompaniment for our youth poets and performers at each Fresh Heat Teen Open Mic.

Amped Educator Kalivyn Marquix, known to the students as Mr. Kalivyn, received the Destiny Cooper Brave Space Award in honor of their commitment to making the classroom a space of radical trust, creativity, and learning.

The Kaiya Smith True Blue Senior Action Research Award was earned by Aerin Armstrong, Chantelle Jones, and Ramiele Rochon for the excellence of their Senior Capstone project “Sexual Assault is Not Your Fault.” ​

Finally, Jeremy Senegal was presented the Asia Reese-White Pay It Forward Scholarship. Jeremy has served as a dedicated Amped student and intern this year, demonstrating every day what it means to live out the Amped values of radical imagination, healing justice, and beloved community.

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From all of us at Humanities Amped, we want to say thank you to everyone who helped make this conference possible. We are grateful for our continued partnership with EBRPSS and Tara High School, to our volunteers, Tara High Teachers, and Amped board members who helped the day run smoothly, and to everyone, especially our students’ families, who shared the day with us.​

We are deeply grateful to the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge for graciously hosting us, and to our funders and sponsors: thank you, Fat Boy’s Pizza for providing lunch for our students, and to the Foundation for Louisiana and the Louisiana Justice Fund for investing in youth-led narrative change in our community. We are stronger together, and we are proud to be journeying to justice with each of you!

The work of Humanities Amped is made possible by generous advocates in our community. Follow the link below to make a donation today toward joyful, meaningful learning experiences for Baton Rouge young people!

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WHAT'S NEW AT HUMANITIES AMPED

Please join us in celebrating members of our Amped staff for their recently published scholarship!

• Dr. Anna West was interviewed by Vincent Cellucci in the Poetics of Place edition of the Journal of Writing and Architecture.
  
• Dr. Nkosilathi Moyo published “White Voice, Black Pain: Eminem, Voice Lending, and the Politics of Cross-Racial Solidarity in Hip-Hop” in Americana: The Journal of American Popular Culture and “Unfound Decolonization: Coups d’Etat and the Pressure Within the Neocolonial State in Africa” in the National Council for Black Studies 2026 Report.
  

Are you passionate about creating joyful, meaningful learning experiences for Baton Rouge public school students and looking for a way to get involved? Humanities Amped is currently seeking board members to help guide the organization in its mission to model and share transformative educational practices that result in people’s power to shape their world. If you’re interested in serving on our board of directors, send an email to Board President Dr. Suzy Caleo at [email protected]—we look forward to hearing from you!