I have traveled and taught in nearly 45 countries: at an orphanage in Greenland, in refugee camps, and alongside migrants and refugees who escaped war. I learned to teach when words were not enough, and to build community through music. Somewhere along the way, I forgot something essential: to support others, we also need support.

In Nancy Fraser’s framework, social justice requires both redistribution (economic resources) and recognition (cultural and symbolic status). Symbolic recognition is the validation of one’s identity, dignity, and self-worth within a broader socio-cultural context. And in 1990s Medellín—our time—young people faced material deprivation and severe symbolic misrecognition, viewed solely through the lens of urban violence, stigma, and invisibility.