Generating a Dream Together: On Future Goodness

On March 8, 2025, Kass and Cornelius teamed up with their beloved friend, world-renowned poet, and Emmy-award winning producer, Kwame Alexander, to gather with educators from all over. They gathered, they shared, and most urgently-they generated an active dream together. After exploring The Structured Generator for Hope from Teaching Fiercely, the community wove together thoughts, ideas, and poignant words. Curated by Kwame Alexander, lovingly held by Kass, Cornelius, and countless educators named below, they offer the poem below for all to read, hold tightly, and act! They look forward to more Action Dreaming with educators this summer. Stay tuned!

Future Goodness
Or, there’s more power in people
than people in power

A community poem by the Action Dreaming community of educators, March 8, 2025

composed by Kwame Alexander, with words from Jennifer Baldocchi,
Eti Berland, Allison Blount, Erika Bogdany, Melissa Boire, Suzanne
Bouffard, Charita Brown, Laurie Burke, Joy Canning, Lynn Clements,
Gregory Croft, Jaime Gerding, Megan Gilligan, Stephanie Hendrix,
Michelle Jewell, Maria Johnson, Vanity Jolly, Evie Katz, Sandra Levin,
Sue Mayo, Janet McDowell, Cornelius Minor, Kass Minor, Mary
Moorman, Gail Harper Morris, Sarah Norsworthy, Amy Okimoto, Brian
Pahl, Judy Pak, Cheryl Piccirelli, Rachel Posner, Skylar Primm, Rose
Reissman, Stephanie Rich, Nicole Scott, Teresa Setzer, Jaimee Taborda,
Markesha Tisby, Darcie Wirth, and Ruth Whitney

Future goodness is soft smiles, loud stomps, mischievous chatter, swoons, thumps of
laughter, dog eared pages and paint stained fingers infinite questions.

Future goodness is not just the really big things. It’s the little things, it’s the result of
having each person’s humanity acknowledged in community,
saturated in compassion and justice

is laughter, liking, love, loosening, leading links to life,
lighting to literacy, literacy, liberty, leader.

Future goodness is what we feel when what we see and hear does not hurt.
Is this aching smile on the tip of my heart’s tongue
knowing the imperfectly human. you belong here with the messy human me, the not
knowing waters, the growth and the tiny tendrils connect through the space, breath by
breath in moments

Future goodness is listening…

an open heart…

standing beside each other…

is weaved among moments of connection that break through the noise and the chaos.

Future goodness is the sigh released after being fully seen, heard, witnessed…

is the breath of the present, the inhale of what is
and the exhale of what will be
sometimes shallow, sometimes deep.

Future goodness is in the breath born of our seen selves…

is an early morning laugh with a science teacher when the copier fails,
that machine stays broken.
our spirits do not have to.

Future goodness knows that good teaching is not on the paper.

Future goodness knows that good teaching is not on the paper, gives thought to
thoughtfulness, and cares for one another. it draws strength from hopelessness, and
passes hope to your brother.

Future goodness is built one small step at a time. It’s built on kindness offered and
accepted.

Future goodness is our children…

is our children who have been mentored by we, the adults who care, support, resist
quietly, loudly, daily, weekly.

Future goodness is in the moment we want to crawl into ourselves and simply live there
until it all passes. Instead, we unfurl ourselves, align our shoulders, tilt our heads up,
and crawl toward it.

Future goodness is seeing the best
in everyone, seeing the passion in the child who acts up …

is togetherness in a diverse world of thought.

Future goodness is connected humans caring for one another.

Future goodness is love

unabashed and revolutionary…

is staying strong and loving
defiantly onward…

is the genuine care felt in the space that honors…

Future goodness is quiet, the heart beating in our chest living within us.

laddering lush lamination…

is heart, small actions that thump, thump, thump, is every child feeling love…

is the strength of a smile …

is building bridges with books…

is creating safe spaces for our children…

is teachers, finding and supporting community amongst themselves

to foster and strengthen their own self care.

and learning is a prayer… is believing in every child

and every child feeling love…

is finding love…

is finding love…

in growing minds and strengthening hearts.

Future goodness is starting now.