About

Education is a positive tool only when it amplifies human potential for peace and prosperity. As you read this, schools across the United States are still reproducing regressive narratives of global South countries, leading them to imagine the entire continent of Africa as a barren savannah; South American countries as a giant pool of misery and drug-trafficking; Southwest Asian nations as war-ridden jungles... multitudes of groups and states reduced to a single story. This hierarchization and erasure of cultures hurts all peoples - undermining any forms of knowledge and expression that do not subscribe to what has been consolidated in the historical narrative as "Western".

Alternatives to consumer culture, life-saving nutritional expertise, technological advancements, millenary stories that inspire the imagination - most students in America remain oblivious to underrepresented and marginalized, cultures, countries and realities. That erasure, along with the widespread attention exodus that has characterized the classroom experience, commits a disservice to educators that want to create a positive impact. After all, it leads students to associate Western Europe and the United States with “civilization” and learning with boredom.

Teachers are overworked and often do not have the bandwidth to bring new materials into play while schools and parents feel like they can’t afford outsourcing high-quality resources. Sailboat Writing was born to bring entertaining online classes, videos and materials made by global South researchers to a k-12 American audience. Created by a Brazilian sociologist and teacher living in the United States, the company has the goal of bringing teachers, parents and community centers the support they need to form well-rounded citizens of the world.

Sociologists, anthropologists, philosophers and historians, the heroes who research the content American children would benefit from, have their research muffled be the lack of funding and infrastructure that characterizes the global South’s academia. Sailboat Writing gives them a platform, partnering with them to, literally and figuratively - translating their content into educational manuals, after-school classes, e-books and videos that change people’s lives. Now, even with a minimal team and counting on the infrastructure of educational juggernauts like Varsity Tutors, Sailboat Writing has touched the lives of over eight thousand students, providing the tools necessary to build a future with more critical thinking, compassion and love for human plurality.