Photo: Alexey Kim

FOUNDER

Keith F. Miller, Jr.January 31, 2022HBAM

Since his undergraduate years as a Gates Millennium Scholar at Northwestern University (B.S. Gender Studies & Dance), Keith F. Miller, Jr. has become an award-winning educator, artist, researcher, and village-builder.

After training mentors for NYC youth (iMentor), transforming university culture and leadership development (NYU Stern), and creative consulting for some of the largest school districts in the country (TNTP), Keith moved back to his hometown, Savannah, Georgia, in 2015. Since then, he’s spearheaded the expansion of arts, social justice, and youth leadership programs, serving nearly 1,000 youth and their families annually (Deep Center).

In addition, he’s published 270+ vulnerable and fearless stories to redefine masculinity (Founder, The Pillow Talk Project), developed the “Healing Literacy (Rainbow) Framework,” (M.S. in Educational Psychology at UW-Madison), and continues to create compelling stories about masculinity, intimacy, hope and healing (M.F.A., St. Francis College) while producing them across mediums (Executive Producer, Pritty the Animation; Executive Producer, Mandingo) in service of narrative change.

Keith has been featured in Scalawag, Afropunk, and Savannah Magazine. He was named “Southerner of the Year”(2016), Georgia Trend’s 40 Under 40 (2018), and a Generation Next Award recipient (2018). Keith is also a National Afterschool Matters Fellow, National Writing Project Teaching Consultant, Forward Promise Leadership Fellow, Promundo Healthy Masculinities Fellow, and a Culture of Health Leader through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

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The Healing Literacy Framework

In 2019, Keith F. Miller, Jr., observed something remarkable while running creative writing after school programs in Savannah, GA: Students from all backgrounds didn’t just step outside their comfort zones—they learned, led, and thrived with unmistakable joy. Despite this, Keith heard from students and families that school, even for the high-achievers, was a place they survived, not thrived. This led Keith, through his studies in Educational Psychology, to explore why young people felt empowered to learn, lead, and heal in some spaces but not in others.

Through a qualitative research study involving interviews with high schoolers, fellow teaching artists over a year, in addition to examining creative works from youth journals and performances, Keith found that when young people engage in arts-based healing practices with trusted others (peers and adults), they don’t just cope with their struggles—they transform them, becoming vibrant leaders in the process.

Drawing inspiration from the process of rainbow formation—reflection, refraction, and dispersion—and building off of groundbreaking research from scholars like David Kirkland, Gholdy Muhammad, Bettina Love, Bianca Baldridge, and Shawn Ginwright, Keith developed the Healing Literacy Framework, illustrating how arts-based, community programs are vital in supporting young people as they overcome educational trauma, and, in doing so, can result in transformative partnerships in school and beyond that prove healing is possible for everyone.

Enter, HEALIT

In 2019, Keith F. Miller, Jr., observed something remarkable while running creative writing after school programs in Savannah, GA: Students from all backgrounds didn’t just step outside their comfort zones—they learned, led, and thrived with unmistakable joy. Despite this, Keith heard from students and families that school, even for the high-achievers, was a place they survived, not thrived. This led Keith, through his studies in Educational Psychology, to explore why young people felt empowered to learn, lead, and heal in some spaces but not in others.

Through a qualitative research study involving interviews with high schoolers, fellow teaching artists over a year, in addition to examining creative works from youth journals and performances, Keith found that when young people engage in arts-based healing practices with trusted others (peers and adults), they don’t just cope with their struggles—they transform them, becoming vibrant leaders in the process.

Drawing inspiration from the process of rainbow formation—reflection, refraction, and dispersion—and building off of groundbreaking research from scholars like David Kirkland, Gholdy Muhammad, Bettina Love, Bianca Baldridge, and Shawn Ginwright, Keith developed the Healing Literacy Framework, illustrating how arts-based, community programs are vital in supporting young people as they overcome educational trauma, and, in doing so, can result in transformative partnerships in school and beyond that prove healing is possible for everyone.