LETS! T.A.L.K. would not have been possible without the labor and love of many individuals and communities whose work has laid the foundation, paved the way, and inspired us enormously.

Particularly, we would like to honor and thank Cory Silverburg and Fiona Smyth, authors of Sex is a Funny Word: A Book About Bodies, Feelings, and YOU.  Without Silberberg and Smyth’s clear, careful, beautiful words and ideas, LETS! T.A.L.K. would look very different (and in our opinion, not nearly as good!). Their contributions include many of the core concepts that LETS! T.A.L.K. is built on, including the “middle parts”, “secret touch”, and the framework of Respect, Trust, Justice, and Joy that guides how we T.A.L.K. (Teach, Affirm, Learn, Know) about ourselves and future generations.  We highly recommend that you buy and read Sex is a Funny Word for your own personal and community enrichment.

We could not have done this work without our community partners. LETS T.A.L.K. originated with us recognizing the need for truly liberatory sexuality education for young people and our own desires to be part of creating it, but the work began in earnest when community parents and teachers identified the same need in their school and our collaboration was born.  Using a community-based participatory research approach that included focus groups, community meetings, advisory board meetings, interviews, and countless hours of formal and non-formal discussions, the LETS T.A.L.K curriculum was built, implemented, evaluated, and continues to grow with these same community-based research methods at it’s core.

Like all good things, LETS! T.A.L.K. is a work in progress that will continue to evolve.  We intend to revise annually with updated materials, activities, and books that reflect our changing world, current research and wisdom.

Finally, LETS! T.A.L.K. was created with flexibility in mind.  You know the youth in your life and classroom better than we do, and so we have given you options to tailor the activities and pace accordingly based on their maturity and readiness.  We hope that LETS! T.A.L.K. will provide an accurate, inclusive structure for you to have space for silliness, creativity and joy in your teaching and learning.

With our love,

Mira, Aneliese, Aiyana, Annie and Aline