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Lesson Plan

  • Grades 9-10,
  • Grades 11-12

Pier Kids Lesson Plan: Reimagining Our Power and Identities Through Speculative Fiction

About This Lesson

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  • About This Lesson
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  • Pier Kids

Directed and Written by Elegance Bratton, Pier Kids zooms  in on the lives of homeless queer and trans young adults who convene at Christoper Street Pier in New York City. By creating their own chosen families they found themselves, their community, safety and a level of acknowledgement that they have been lacking. The film follows the survival strategies, bursts of joy, and the complex family lives of Krystal, DeSean, and Jusheem as they are pushed to the margins of New York City while being simultaneously hypervisible and invisibilized. This lesson is just one part in a longer journey for students to work through and explore the relationship between: 1) power 2) identity 3) storytelling 4) naming your identity on your own terms and 5) exploring the bounds and limitations of labels and limited visions of identities. 

For many, like we see in the film there are feelings of not belonging, seeking community and the desire to walk towards the identity you create for yourself...the version of “you” you feel in your body, mind, and heart. Unfortunately for some individuals, their identities continue to be ignored, marginalized, and/or not acknowledged on their terms. Speculative fiction has allowed people who have been othered to dream and imagine something more. In this lesson plan, students will have the opportunity to deviate from the heteronormative and dominant narratives of people and their trajectory by exploring a different story of what could be and what is possible.

Directed and Written by Elegance Bratton, Pier Kids zooms  in on the lives of homeless queer and trans young adults who convene at Christoper Street Pier in New York City. By creating their own chosen families they found themselves, their community, safety and a level of acknowledgement that they have been lacking. The film follows the survival strategies, bursts of joy, and the complex family lives of Krystal, DeSean, and Jusheem as they are pushed to the margins of New York City while being simultaneously hypervisible and invisibilized. This lesson is just one part in a longer journey for students to work through and explore the relationship between: 1) power 2) identity 3) storytelling 4) naming your identity on your own terms and 5) exploring the bounds and limitations of labels and limited visions of identities. 

For many, like we see in the film there are feelings of not belonging, seeking community and the desire to walk towards the identity you create for yourself...the version of “you” you feel in your body, mind, and heart. Unfortunately for some individuals, their identities continue to be ignored, marginalized, and/or not acknowledged on their terms. Speculative fiction has allowed people who have been othered to dream and imagine something more. In this lesson plan, students will have the opportunity to deviate from the heteronormative and dominant narratives of people and their trajectory by exploring a different story of what could be and what is possible.

About the authors

Maureen Nicole

Maureen Nicol

Maureen Nicol is a Doctoral student at Columbia University studying Early Childhood Education and the Founder and Director of Camp Story - a pop-up arts camp based on the continent of Africa. Her background is in teaching and education. Maureen is committed to working with young children and educators to ensure every child and teacher knows their value, worth and power. Maureen's research and work interests have always always situated children of color but specifically young Black girls. Her ultimate goal is to make schools safer places for young Black girls with the idea of safety being articulated based on the terms and articulations of Black girls. Maureen is also researching and building curriculum for young girls (specifically young girls of color) on how they can be seen themselves as feminists using arts integration. In her free time, Maureen enjoys going on long walks with her dog, baking and maxing out her library card with good reads.

Related events

July 9
Screening

San Diego Public Library's Virtual Screening of 'Pier Kids'

San Diego Public Library

July 16
Screening

Maryland Public Television's Virtual Screening of 'Pier Kids'

Virtual Screening

August 5
Screening

'Pier Kids' With The Rockland Public Library

Virtual Screening

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