To the fullest

Most people marry because

They want to control the other

You do not own that thing

That you love

Fight to survive

Or else

No subject too dark

Or too painful

Tackle her with humor

But look on the bright side

Now you are really

Half black

And half white

Meaning:

 I chose these phrases from the text “Born A Crime” by Trevor Noah because of his relationship with his mother and how he dealt with being “colored” in a time when being colored was a crime. I also believe that this is personifying the “marriage” between being black and white.

How in this world can I pick myself up? 

My heart began to throb with inexpressible joy.

You could read happiness 

I knew then and I know now that, when it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it. 

You can't sugarcoat it.
 You have to take a stand and say, "This is not right.”

Each species with which we share the earth is a success story

It was easy to see that it was all crap. I’d had enough of just feeling angry

I was tired of hoping for justice.

When my moment came, I was ready.

Meaning: 
Over the years everybody has faced insecurity. Reality vs. expectations is one topic that most people don't fully understand. Instead of hiding  you should show who you truly are. For example, Claudette Colvin didn't give up her seat to a white American. Claudette decided to take a stand to prove that she deserves rights too. People hide their true-selves and act fake because of the expectations that society has created. People fake to be fine but on the inside they're really not. What's the point of acting fake if you're not content? All in all, take a stand and don't hide your true-self.

Quote that I love: "You can't blend in when you were born to standout."- R.J. Palacio

All this is new to me

I am still learning

The mother of the modern day

Gracious and caring

Everyone who meets her

Feels the love she carries

For all of humanity

People had suffered

Had to face this kind of danger

She might not be with us in the future

But she has given me the strength

Strength to say what is right

- After reading my book and really discussing and thinking about all of the amazing lines within it, I choose a few and pieced them together to create this poem. The lines are deep and have so much meaning to them. It described the strength that this woman had, and how she taught people that they shouldn’t be afraid to stand up for change and stand up for what they believe in. 

That’s just how life was.

I was born black.

I went to black church and black schools, where we had caring black teachers.

Skin color decided your fate.

That is why we march.

We march for the rights of our parents.

And then we protest.

To make the future bright.

We do this for ourselves.

Our futures.

And we won’t stop marching

Till they hear our voices.

And we won’t stop marching

Till they listen well.

Since words are our weapons.

We won’t do as they tell.

I took the phrases from the book “Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom”. The reason I chose these words is because it shared their thoughts, why they were marching, and what they were doing it for. The Selma Voting Rights March of 1965 was a march to give black people voting rights. Many didn’t raise any hands, but used their words as their swords. It shows through the last part of my poem. Also, many people did try to stop the march. They marchers never listened. They always continued. Most were born black, and you can never change it.

And I think when you make mistakes and you recover from them and you treat them as valuable learning experiences, then you've got something to share.

You have to get that through your head. 

That it is not easy becoming successful.

People called racism the nation’s number one enemy.
Gradualism was a smart legal strategy.
However, some thought it was a mistake to suit the nation’s leaders’ ideas of propriety.
Some saw school desegregation as a way to revolutionize American society.
However, the goal of a multicultural America is not achieved simply by proximity.
Life needed to be reformed to meet the needs for all.

I chose these lines because they described what life was like during the middle of the 20th century. They also showed what some people did to change this. I also liked how the words came together to form a deeper meaning in the poem.

My muscles are strong which allows me to rehearse 

I perform turns and leaps over and over again each day for months on end 

But suddenly i could no longer fit into the same costumes the other girls wore

They where too tight on me 

“ You need to lengthen”

My body wouldn't fit in at ABT

“ There’s no way you could be a ballerina and be as big as you are. Ballerinas are thin.”

My poems was about girls who struggle with their body and they are told that they are to big and fat and they force themselves to be thin. Dancers, especially ballerina, try really hard to look perfect and as soon as you gain a little weight you are told that you are to big and that you need to loose weight. And this cause

He was an outsider

He seemed to wear the wrong clothes

He saw the discrimination

His father was a stranger to him, 

They welcomed Barrack as long lost family

He was the child of a white American mother and a black Kenyan father

He called for increased national security, but to also find the source of the madness

He called for people to raise the hopes and dreams of embittered children across the world

He managed to get health care in the nation reformed

He had a commitment to his grandmother, his wife, and his children

But all he wanted to do, was leave the world a better place

Barrack Obama: Our 44th President

I chose this style of poem to allude to the many other things Barack Obama was, other than a great president. The deeper meaning to this poem is, even though its corny, that it doesn't matter what you look like, you can still change the world. (Note, not all the lines are exactly the same as in the book, but very close or just added the word "he" instead of something else or for it to work with "he" at the beginning)