Guest: Queen D. Michele, founder of the Fula History & Genealogy Society in America · Host: Jeremy Rivera · Unscripted Green & Non-Profits
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When retired 27-year educator Queen D. Michele stepped back into a middle-school classroom after a decade away, what she witnessed reshaped the mission of her nonprofit, the Fula History & Genealogy Society in America. Generation Alpha, she realized, is growing up emotionally dysregulated by screens that never turn off — and the adults meant to guide them are missing the very same tools. Her answer is 52 Insights for Gen Alpha, a conscious social-emotional-learning curriculum that turns the five core SEL competencies into a personal, AI-adaptive journey. Here’s what she shared on the show.
Three Nuggets She Came Back With
Queen opened with three “nuggets” from 63 years of living. The first is a challenge to the hustle: the matrix cares not about the quality of your life — only the quantity you can give the system. The second reframes healing entirely: generational trauma is carried in our DNA, but so is its repair.
The third nugget is the thesis behind everything she is building: unconscious cannot teach consciousness. You can’t take anyone on a journey you haven’t taken yourself — which, she argues, is exactly why social-emotional learning keeps stalling inside the classroom.
Who Generation Alpha Really Is
Generation Alpha (born 2010–2024) is the first generation born fully in the 21st century — “clicking and swiping since infancy,” on platforms free from parental influence. That constant external overstimulation, Queen says, has deregulated their nervous systems and disrupted their emotional intelligence. She doesn’t blame parents who saw their kids on screens and assumed they were learning; the shift was simply too fast to read in real time.
Why SEL Can’t Stay in the Classroom
Teachers “put out fires all day,” and can’t hand students self-regulation tools they don’t hold themselves. Because everyone sits at a different point on the emotional-intelligence spectrum, Queen rebuilt her program as an individual journey rather than a group lesson: a Myers-Briggs–style intake sets each learner’s path, and an adaptive model — hosted on the Cyber Learning LMS — meets them where they are as they move through the five pillars of social-emotional learning.
“Unconscious cannot teach consciousness. You can’t take someone on a journey that you have yet to be on yourself.”
— Queen D. Michele
The Pilot: Free, Online, Starts September 8
This fall, Queen is piloting a portion of the year-long program: 28 weeks, a hundred spots, completely free. It’s open to Gen Alpha (ages 13 through seniors) and to the adults sowing into their lives — teachers, counselors, social workers, SEL specialists, parents, and grandparents. Registration is open now, and the pilot begins September 8.
Register free for the fall pilot
Gen Alpha, parents, and educators welcome — starts September 8.
The Big Gun: Guided Meditation
Asked for one action item anyone could take home, Queen didn’t hesitate: meditation. The accessible first step is a guided practice — you can’t drop straight into stillness in “this dense environment of energy.” She credits a 21-day guided challenge nine years ago that she never stopped. Unguided, she warns, is “like letting a three-year-old loose in a zoo.” Start guided, and begin living consciously from the inside out.
Key Takeaways
- Generational trauma is carried in our DNA — but so is healing; awareness and acceptance are the first step.
- Generation Alpha (born 2010–2024) has been “clicking and swiping since infancy,” leaving nervous systems overstimulated and emotions deregulated.
- You can’t teach a journey you haven’t taken: adults need the same self-regulation tools they’re trying to give kids.
- Social-emotional learning can no longer be a one-size group activity — it has to be a personal, self-paced, AI-adaptive journey.
- “52 Insights for Gen Alpha” pilots online September 8 — free, 28 weeks, open to teens through seniors, parents, and teachers.
- Start with the “big gun”: a daily guided-meditation practice to begin regulating what’s been dysregulated.
Read more of Queen’s writing on her Substack, and explore the full 52 Insights for Gen Alpha program. Hear more nonprofit, green, and community-benefit conversations on Unscripted Green & Non-Profits.