Poetry
From the moment she could put pen to paper, Dr. Gambino relied on writing as a means to process her lived experiences, as well as the world around her.
She's found that poetry, whether narrative or lyrical, is a genre that allows her to mingle figurative language and give voice to what's in her soul.
Andrea's especially inspired to write poetry to reflect her experiences as an educator, and the transformative bonds that can occur when developing relationships with students. She also writes poetry about social and climate issues as a form of meaning-making, resistance, and solidarity-building.
"What Keeps Me Going"
A poem written for and inspired by undergraduate students in Education 137: Critical Digital Media Literacies--a course co-taught with Dr. Jeff Share at the University of California, Los Angeles in the Winter of 2022. This course occurred during periods of in-person, remote, and hybrid-learning among the COVID-19 pandemic, amidst a campus safety threat in which fortunately no one was physically harmed, and an ongoing uptick in national gun violence in public spaces and schools.
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It is no secret that this quarter has been challenging in more ways than one -
But across each and every single hardship remains a constant of critical hope, which I believe is best represented by the resilience and ethic of care that you all have shown me, Jeff, and one another for the past 11-weeks.
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There's a part of the definition for critical media literacy created by passionate minds from South and North American from the Critical media Literacy Conference of the Americas Steering Committee, for which I've had the joy of serving alongside in the past year.
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It reads, "critical media literacy is a transformative pedagogy for developing and empowering critical, caring, nurturing, and conscientious people." I knew I believed in that line when it was authored, but because of each of you, I was able to see it and feel it in action--because of bearing witness to the ways you each embody this statement.
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Beloved and Brave Ed137 Students:
It's the light in your eyes, your impassioned questions, innovative solutions, and your call-to-actions that we must persist and collectively struggle towards a new visage and promise of new beginnings.
It's your resolve to deconstruct the past, pursue truth, and your adamant commitment to the service of others.
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It's the cadence in your voice when as Chi once asked, "Professor Jeff and Andrea, how are you managing?"
It's in your DMs and your GroupMes and your check-ins to help keep each other safe and youre resolve to ensure that whether in-person, attending remotely, or a blend of both, that we can and in fact we must, always remain united and together.
It's the ways you affirmed each others TikToks, laughed together and created real authentic spaces where we can come and be who we are, united in our passions for social and environmental justice.
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It is in our shared dialogues that I am able to remember the agency that can be found in our perspectives and our radical dreaming as we co-create community that WE believe is essential for all social movements and necessary forms of inward and societal change.
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You are the reason I stay.
What sustains my soul.
You are the reason I will always teach and always be invigorated to keep learning.
You are the laughter that heals the wounds of our social spirits, the joy that fortifies great pedagogy, and the promise of what can be.
Thank you for being you and allowing me to receive the most beautiful gift of knowing your power, presence, and life-changing energy.
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You are everything.
You are what keeps me going.