We are creating a building trades and craft school that centers the history, lived experiences, and knowledge of Black and Brown, queer and trans people. Our belief and conviction is that a true education in the building trades and crafts requires both attainment of technical proficiency as well as an understanding of the historical, political, and social realities in which these endeavors were developed and continue to evolve. We also understand that historically and inherently there is a sacred connection between building, farming, and art. For these reasons, our philosophy and teaching methodology pairs technical skill acquisition with political education and the trades (e.g. timber framing, natural building, carpentry, design) with art and folk craft (e.g. folk music, natural dyes, herbalism).

 

Our mission is to provide a space for Black and Brown, women, queer and trans folks to gain exposure and training in the building trades and traditional crafts and to ground these skills within ongoing political education to build a just future. In the face of the immense political and ecological pressures of this moment, we believe that broader and deeper involvement in the building arts and crafts are desperately needed so that our communities can build strong shelter, root down, and sing out. 

 

The school will train a skilled, community-driven workforce within the rural Southern Maryland region that is oriented towards social and climate justice within the construction trades. It will also provide necessary space for creative exchange, joy, imagination, and movement building, in the lineage of rural organizing spaces like the Highlander Research and Education Center. The school will provide Black and Brown, women, queer and trans folks access to technical skills and a space to ground these skills within ongoing political education and historical understanding, so that we can build a just future together, fed by liberatory imagination, ancestral knowledge, and practical skills.