Games for Justice Reflection

Introduction

Last summer, I served as a part of the staff team for a program for youth of color in the Boston area looking to explore game design while centering youth power, transformative justice, economic democracy, and collective leadership structures. Organized as more of a creative collective rather than your typical summer camp structure, I was allowed the space to learn and grow in a way that I had not anticipated. Every week, we were encouraged to reflect on the programming of that week and journal about how we felt as an exercise to work on understanding our needs and wants in the space better as well as spend a periodic moment of gratitude for the space. Below are some of my reflections from all 8 weeks about lessons learned and memories made.

Weeks 1 & 2

I mentioned at the beginning of the program that one of the biggest things that I was looking forward to was learning collectively. I knew that coming into a space full of justice-focused and intelligent people (both from the staff and youth) would mean so many spectacular opportunities to expand my world-view, perspectives, and grow. So far, I’ve already been surrounded by even more knowledge and creativity than I was expecting and I’m looking forward to seeing that grow as we shift from staff led sessions to the youth led game production.

During these two weeks, we had participated in some group learning within the realms of game design software, the intersection of video games and social justice, and transformative justice. One of the more valuable things that I learned from this section of the program was the introduction to collective care. Built into the daily programming was morning and afternoon check-in questions, personal care reminders (if you haven't drank any water today, grab a glass!), and racial affinity sessions. As someone who has participated in schooling at pwi’s (predominantly white institutions) for most of my schooling career, building safe spaces around racial identity is something that I am familiar with. However, there's something different about specifically building a purposeful space for affinity not birthed out of collective trauma but out of creativity, compassion, and pride. Definitely something that I also admire and value about the Spacebox team and want to continue to develop over time.

Weeks 3 & 4

In general, my highlights from the past few weeks have been observing the beauty that comes from collaborative work. Seeing the aggregate of all the students ideas, passions, and experiences has been such an enriching and educational experience from a facilitators standpoint and it has been so exciting seeing it all come together. I hope moving forward that I can just continue to learn from these brilliant minds and aid in making their ideas come to life in some way or another.

During weeks 3 and 4, we actually began working in game development groups. There was something really cool about collectively running every aspect of these co-working sessions with the youth team. Its was so much fun curating work playlists together and set up organizational systems to stay on track. However, I found that the most important aspect of these coworking spaces was the attention we payed to the needs of everyone involved. While it of course took a lot of time and effort, it was also quite a lot of emotional labor involved in building games that touched on subject matter that may have been triggering like homophobia, ableism, and more. It was imperative that for the well-being of both youth and staff, that we were actively building in opportunities for people to step back when needed, have a space to vent, and can be open about their mental health and communication needs. This was a vastly different tone to the messages we usually get in traditional education or corporate America about ignoring our own boundaries to be more “productive”. This shift in mentality, ended up making the space far more “productive” and healthy than half of the spaces I’ve worked in the past.

Weeks 5 & 6

It’s been amazing seeing how comfortable and excited the team has gotten this week. Seeing each of the members work flows and how they synergize to form a product that everyone is super proud of has been beautiful. It’s also been so beautiful just having discussions with them about their interests, passions, and goals in life. I came into this program looking forward to the mutual learning that we would all be able to engage with and it’s safe to say that I have learned so much from the youth. I’ve learned how to be more transparent about my feelings, have a deeper appreciation for the power of artistic expression, and savor the small moments.

These were the weeks of reviewing everyone's game prototypes. Examining each groups drafts of art, algorithms, and (most personally exciting of all) narratives! We had each group go and playtest what they had so far with family and friends to get feedback on their pieces. For draft goals that weren’t able to be completed, we reevaluated our capacity and scoped down to prevent burnout so that we could really hone in on what stories we wanted to tell. One subject that came up during this phase of game development in tangent with some of our amazing speakers that week was the radical tradition within storytelling. We continuously asked ourselves “how should we as QPOC tell our stories in a way that uplifts, inspires, and liberates?” Historically, storytelling has tied communities together and connected them to a larger narrative beyond the individual. Historical materialism and statistics are important, but stories are truly a revolutionary tool to assist in seeing the world beyond what is in front of us.

Weeks 7 & 8

Something that I have really enjoyed observing in the final weeks of this program have been the sheer amount growth from both the youth as well as me and my fellow staffers. From doubt surrounding our capabilities to confidence in what we can bring to the table. From fear of asking for help or trying something new to being curious about expanding our comfort zones and learning from our failures. From 12 strangers to a close community of designers, photographers, programmers, writers, creators, and activists who are dedicated to telling stories that need to be told. I am so lucky to have been able to work with such an inspiring group of individuals this summer and I'm excited for us to continue supporting each others journeys moving forward.

In the bittersweet last weeks of the program, the two groups made final touches to the games and published them onto an open marketplace for game developers and other creatives, itch.io. If you’d be interested in checking out any of the games the youth or our staff team created during the program, you can find them here! After crafting some quick presentations to explain their creative journey, the two youth groups presented their games to family, friends, and community members. The following day, we ended the program with warm and fuzzies, an exercise where we shared bounties of words of appreciation for each and every member of the program.

I can honestly say that this was just one of the most impactful and revolutionary spaces that I have had the pleasure of being apart of. The curious and creative energy, the compassion we had for one another, and the collective dedication to building a better world through art were unparalleled. I’s so excited to take the lessons I learned at Games for Justice and bring them to the SpaceBox team and any other creative space in my life.

-Zarya Ajasin

Zarya Ajasin is an undergraduate student studying Computer Science at Georgia Institute of Technology. She is passionate about designing impactful human-centered solutions to real-world social problems and believes that ethics and empathy should be at the forefront of all design