# data[].attributes.headline
Camila Fermin, 15               Restraint    

# data[].attributes.subject
Camila Fermin, 15               Restraint    

# data[].attributes.body
Sophomore

# data[].attributes.headline
Hailey Almonte,16                       Ego Trippin'  

# data[].attributes.subject
Hailey Almonte,16                       Ego Trippin'  

# data[].attributes.body
My vessel is temporary

My mind and spirit is permanent

After each life, my spirit gains more   knowledge and peace

My spirit is evolving and the last stage is going to heaven and peace

My mind observes drama and negativity, but doesn't feed.

I'm grateful for the human experience and for being me

I am a sinner but my hope is stronger and I still believe

That I will save millions of lives before my spirit leaves

# data[].attributes.headline
Wanye Dash, 16                         Life in Times of Covid

# data[].attributes.subject
Wanye Dash, 16                         Life in Times of Covid

# data[].attributes.body
I remember the days when I’d speculate

That working from home would simply be great.

No need for the train, the bookbags and the shoes,

No need, ever again, for that daily commute.

I could work in my jammies, or wear nothing at all

And never once worry ’bout the principle down the hall.

I’d only wake up when I’d be meeting on Zoom

Then I’d just have to clean a little part of the room.

And how great it would be with no one to watch

As I took a nip, now and then, from my cup of juice.

But now that it’s happened, my dream hasn’t come true

’Cuz working from home is like life at the zoo.

This will hopefully be over soon enough, real fast enough,

The isolation, the cold wind, will soon be filled with people.

People looking for a fun time

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.embed_code
@suitelyfeofnia

♬ original sound - creepy slowed audios

# data[].attributes.headline
Camila Fermin, 15               Pledge of allegiance         

# data[].attributes.subject
Camila Fermin, 15               Pledge of allegiance         

# data[].attributes.body
Devin-Poems

# data[].attributes.headline
Evelyn Chadan, 17.                Recipe: My Outcome   

# data[].attributes.subject
Evelyn Chadan, 17.                Recipe: My Outcome   

# data[].attributes.body
It's a sense of natural- starting of as ........

A leaf of mint- to get a fresh start of my goal

A 1/2 cup of brown sugar just a half because I can't make it too sweet, for I can add a little bit spic

You know this is a little challenge not know what go's let

Similar to my life I never know what will happen next

I am a little bit indecisive

which leads to white or dark chocolate

Yes!!! Dark Chocolate ... why because you have to be a little healthy

the way my future forms is in small segments

this can break into pieces leaving me with no hope or the opposite

# data[].attributes.headline
Jordan Francis, 14                           I pledge allegiance

# data[].attributes.subject
Jordan Francis, 14                           I pledge allegiance

# data[].attributes.body
I pledge allegiance to the quiet gym as the basketball hits the floor.

To my friends that step on the court with me as we forget everything else but basketball.

To my brothers that look up to me when I accomplish something, and then try to copy it

I pledge allegiance to the sweet aroma of food that spreads across the air, symbolizing my mothers delicious cooking is almost done as I come home.

I pledge allegiance to the deli me and my friends usually rely on for a quick food run

I pledge allegiance to Brooklyn, my neighborhood, the hometown and friends I will never forget

I pledge allegiance to the iHop on Broadway me and my family occasionally visit for years

I pledge allegiance to the same booth we’re seated at most of the time

Venezuela runs in my bloodline and although it's not one of the best running countries out there, I pledge allegiance to the race that ties me to my ancestors and family

I pledge allegiance to Barbados beautiful beaches and resorts, the vacation country people visit and pay for, is where my bloodline originates from

I choose familiar crowds, whether its family or friends, I stick true to those who have been at my side for as long as I can remember

I pledge allegiance to the motto “eat with those who starved with you”, when I do grow up and make it, I won’t forget anyone who truly helped me on my journey

I even have the number of the 2 teachers from middle and elementary school that got me past all my bad behaviours and detentions, and helped me become the better person I am now

The fact I skipped a grade, and was able to make it in basketball is thanks to figures I’ll repay when I get older

I pledge allegiance to myself, the only person who can truly beat me is me, so instead of beating myself up I’ll strive for greatness.

-by Jordan Francis

# data[].attributes.headline
Mekhi Flack, 16.                 Untitled     

# data[].attributes.subject
Mekhi Flack, 16.                 Untitled     

# data[].attributes.body
What is the stupidest form of hate?

It's when you harass and discriminate

Not a single human gets to choose their gender or race

So what if she's Muslim?

Get off her case

I stay worrying about how this hate affects the future

'Cause people still fight over religion and race

People still say the slurs for the click bait

There isn't love in the air

Instead there is hate

It is polluting the air we breathe in and take

Hate is a disease that makes you foolish and fake

Will America be like this in 2058?

Will there still be any racists that I have to bake?

We all bleed the same red within our bodies and face

# data[].attributes.headline
Lawrence Anderson, 17- Recipe for My Future

# data[].attributes.subject
Lawrence Anderson, 17- Recipe for My Future

# data[].attributes.body
I would like my future to be as bright as a lemon but I’d rather not have the sour moments attached.

To be as sweet as honey or cake.

Filled with warmth like a fresh batch of mouthwatering chocolate chip cookies.

To have a special someone to spice things up a bit with.

A calm sweet life that would be for me.

# data[].attributes.headline
Camila Fermin, 15                     What happens

# data[].attributes.subject
Camila Fermin, 15                     What happens

# data[].attributes.body
What happens when things do not go your way?
Does your heart shake?
What happens when things do not go your way?
Do all of your flowers from your front lawn wilt?
Or do they get completely knocked down by the wind
What happens when things do not go your way?
Are your dreams still afloat or are you ready to be trapped by loss and dread?

# data[].attributes.headline
Evelyn Chadan, 17.                       The World's Creation 

# data[].attributes.subject
Evelyn Chadan, 17.                       The World's Creation 

# data[].attributes.body
The shine on my eyes defines

The worthy I am

but behind everything, there is broken glass of hope

waiting to see if I can reconstruct my hope

My lips speak out my thought and ideas

I believe the world gives all the traits but you are the one to  choose to be those traits.

The connection between the outside world and myself brings the best of me

I can be myself with the people I love!!!!

# data[].attributes.headline
Jordan Francis, 14                        Ego Trippin' 

# data[].attributes.subject
Jordan Francis, 14                        Ego Trippin' 

# data[].attributes.body
Born in Brooklyn, I had high hopes from a young age. Watching basketball from young, people designing buildings and creating cars, all I could think of was "I want to be like that". Like that meaning I'm helping the society, whether the form of entertaining or helping out the agriculture, being a cause in the evolution of technology, building houses people would live their lives in, I wanted to be a part of it. As I grow up I still wish to have a future the same I dreamed of at a young age, to be able to tell my family what I did that is now being used in modern society, what I made is being spread around the continent. My ego isn't too big, but I do wish to fulfill things to quench my dreams

# data[].attributes.headline
Hailey Almonte, 16                       The Oppressed    

# data[].attributes.subject
Hailey Almonte, 16                       The Oppressed    

# data[].attributes.body
The oppressed reach the highest for the highest of stars

They reach higher 'cause they know struggle and have the biggest of hearts

The oppressed put in the most work, they're never stuck at the start

You have a complex mind when what you went through was dark

We always find a light to fight what keeps us stuck in the dark

Even if we get put down, we still forgive with our hearts

Because when you forgive and reach high you drowning in smarts

Don't underestimate the oppressed who have been through a lot

# data[].attributes.headline
Hailey Almonte, 16                           Dear White America 

# data[].attributes.subject
Hailey Almonte, 16                           Dear White America 

# data[].attributes.body
Dear White America,

You’d think I’d have nothing to fear because I am White passing. But imagine having Black and Black passing loved ones who have it way worse than you just because they are not White?   Imagine all the people you love, dealing with Black struggles? The Black woman, who has the lowest self esteem, has it the worst. When will you appreciate Non White beauty?  I only receive 25% of the struggle for having 3C and 4A textured hair, and my hair is a blessing in my eyes but it’s a curse to others. Imagine being a little girl getting told by your family that your hair is ugly and that you have “bad hair”. And those insults haunt you for the rest of your life. No matter how much you love your hair, when you have hair like mine, those words will haunt you for a long time. Imagine men not wanting you because they don’t want a “nappy headed child”. Imagine your family questioning why you didn’t come out with your father’s straight hair. I get fetishized in my family for my White features yet I get put down for my Blackest feature. And most of these insults come from my mother’s side. The side of which I got my hair from. The people that your people decided to put down and brainwash. You have brainwashed my aunts, and my grandmother, and my mother, by telling them they are ugly for not looking White. These are the types of struggles that Black women and even Biracial women have to deal with, yet Black women still have it way worse than I do.  Our own blood makes a huge deal out of which girl has the lightest skin tone and the loosest hair texture and the smallest nose because of you. Black women get rejected by their own men because of you. Black men choose White women over Black women. Why? Because you brainwashed Black men too. Not that there’s anything wrong with wanting to date outside your race. But most Black men put Black women down in the process of it. So please. I beg that you stop tearing down Afrocentric features. Please uplift Black women and let them know that all their Black features are unique and perfect.

Sincerely, Hailey Almonte

# data[].attributes.headline
Bryan Gil, 16                                       I believe 

# data[].attributes.subject
Bryan Gil, 16                                       I believe 

# data[].attributes.body
I believe in my brothers , in my guys I trust , we are getting money and trying not to do bad stuff, people in the street would see us and think that we're bad but are actually good people and it's sad , i think they just think that because we're black . And whoever encounters us will never forget us like a tat , and always have us on their mind like a hat .

# data[].attributes.body
Borders exist within people
People make rules 
People make laws
People make everything 
The people shape who you are as a person
The people are watching over you without you knowing
dissecting you
judging your mistakes 
The people are strong 
The people are powerful 
The people are hungry
The people make laws to watch you fail 
They force you into situations you can't get out of
The people don't sleep 
The people don't see
"Potential is invisible to me"
The people have no emotion 
The people have no joy
The people have no heart 
The people make the borders and that's where you will start.

# data[].attributes.headline
Erika Lagua, 15                                     

# data[].attributes.subject
Erika Lagua, 15                                     

# data[].attributes.body
At Night

At night it's so quiet

At night you feel so alone

At night you see nothing but the stars in the sky

At night you get to feel the breeze brushing against your skin

At night you feel calm

# data[].attributes.headline
Jaden McDonald, 16                 Covid  

# data[].attributes.subject
Jaden McDonald, 16                 Covid  

# data[].attributes.body
Covid what a year it's been

Are you gonna stay over until next year

The moon and you covid are alike

Whatever darkness you shine on dies.

# data[].attributes.headline
Melanie Maldonado, 17                       Fire: Police Brutality

# data[].attributes.subject
Melanie Maldonado, 17                       Fire: Police Brutality

# data[].attributes.body
With one spark, I can cause fear

I can hurt so quickly,

I can get away with it

It’s hard to burn me out, no matter how much you try

My flames give me power, I can make you cry

I cause pain to so many,

I hurt innocent people

I cause trouble, I raise evil

# data[].attributes.headline
Akera Joseph, 18                        Dear White America 

# data[].attributes.subject
Akera Joseph, 18                        Dear White America 

# data[].attributes.body
Dear White America,

Do you feel threatened by me?

Is it my thick coily hair

Or my skin of ebony

Dear White America,

Why do you hate me and my kin

It it my widened waist

Or pretty face that makes you want to sin

Dear White America,

If we’re already so low

Why do feel the need to put us down

Does your pain erase when you see me frown

Dear White America,

Why is my culture trendy

You try to claim all the things you envy

Dear White America,

Best regards

I’m going to make an empire out of everything you’ve discard

# data[].attributes.body
COVID

I am the air, infected and dying
I am causing many deaths
I am hurting the world
I am keeping people at home scared I am causing people to stay 6 feet apart, I am causing online school, I am making people feel sick, I am sending people to hospitals, I am hurting the ecosystem, I am making people where masks

# data[].attributes.headline
Erika Lagua, 15                            Ego Trippin' 

# data[].attributes.subject
Erika Lagua, 15                            Ego Trippin' 

# data[].attributes.body
I was born in brooklyn
to be more specific, bushwick
drug dealers around the corners
some kids not even adults
getting money illegally as a result
had so much potential, what happened?
while the rest are napping
getting ready to school and receive their education
i was shy back in grade school
not talk at all and close myself up from others
but throughout the years that has changed
i met people who i am became friends with
help me get out of comfort zone, be more confident and gain more friends
and I will forever be thankful for that
i hope everyone who was just like how I was gets to find people who will help them become a better person and help them grow

# data[].attributes.headline
Erika Lagua, 15                                  I pledge allegiance   

# data[].attributes.subject
Erika Lagua, 15                                  I pledge allegiance   

# data[].attributes.body
I pledge allegiance to my mother

such a hard worker

Went through so much

A pure soul

I pledge allegiance to my father who went through so much

Broke his bones from working and got covid and was on the verge of dying

But thanks to god, you made it out alive

I pledge allegiance to my sister

So annoying but filled up with so much joy

Always seems to be smiling even when her day is not going how she wanted it to go

Makes me feel happy when i'm feeling down

I pledge allegiance to my best friends

For being there for me through everything

Being by my side since the beginning

So much ups and downs yet we still made it till this day

I pledge allegiance to life itself

# data[].attributes.headline
Kevyn Ramnath Niles, 15                     I pledge allegiance              

# data[].attributes.subject
Kevyn Ramnath Niles, 15                     I pledge allegiance              

# data[].attributes.body
I pledge allegiance to myself

For making it this far

For the decisions I made

And life in general

I pledge allegiance to peace

Being the quiet

Who tries not to get anybody mad

Who nobody really appreciates or notices

I pledge allegiance to still being here

Even though I don’t want to

Still put my best foot forward

Knowing the rewards I will get

I pledge allegiance to being happy

To being by myself and still feeling some type of joy

To no checkups and still being alright

To being broken

And picking myself back up

Because the earth doesn’t revolve around me

Because friends aren’t everything

# data[].attributes.headline
Hailey Almonte, 16                           I pledge allegiance

# data[].attributes.subject
Hailey Almonte, 16                           I pledge allegiance

# data[].attributes.body
I pledge allegiance to to my soulmates

To the ones that had my back since my first day

To the ones who are broken and cry at night when it’s late

To the ones who spread love instead of gossip and hate

If there is a culture you ignorantly appropriate

Please do your research or I will be quick to educate

I stand with every race, religion, trans and gay

The natives don't rule their own country because racism steals and takes

That is an important example of one who oppresses and appropriates

We all boast and argue so much about who appropriates

Yet many keep a blind eye for the our own and the oppressors’ sake

When it comes to groups y'all aren’t apart of, y'all are some flakes

Especially when you’re oppressed and you hate

You fight for support but when you discriminate,

You just look like a hypocritical fake

You’ll get no where if you spread the oppressor’s hate

# data[].attributes.headline
Ninoska Preciado, 17             Dear White America

# data[].attributes.subject
Ninoska Preciado, 17             Dear White America

# data[].attributes.body
Dear America,

Lin- Manuel Miranda called you “A great unfinished symphony” but you are a child playing violin no one tells to stop. You’re terrible at what you do, and sometimes it looks cute but it’s annoying and it’s hurting my ears. You’ve taken so much from my people. From the different communities and act like it’s okay. You’ve taken lives, cultures, struggles, and pretend they’re yours. You say we’re oppressing you, ad if you didn’t bring millions and separated families because you’re too lazy and entitled to do work by yourself. Why should my people bend their backs to benefit yours? You call us Aliens, you call us illegal, and yet, you can’t live if not for us. And I won’t lie, some of my people act like yours, and some of yours are in great support of ours, but that changes nothing. You have a privilege I only get when I straighten my hair. A privilege that you’ve used to belittle others and put us down and we’re not allowed to complain. America, you’re people are terrible. That includes me, that includes you, but there’s a difference between white and brown America, and I’ll just say, Brown America’s mistakes are in response to white America’s terror. You claim you’re the best, but you’re a first world country holding a Gucci belt.

# data[].attributes.headline
Erika Lagua,15                            Dear white america 

# data[].attributes.subject
Erika Lagua,15                            Dear white america 

# data[].attributes.body
Why do you judge us based on the color of our skin
Just because we have a different skin tone it doesn’t make us any less different
We are all humans
You hate us, treat us different, so much disrespect
You think you found and own this land
But instead you stole this land
From us from our ancestors
We want change
We need change
It has to happen and we are not giving up