Month: May 2019

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Features

Biology Teacher Ms. Coleman Retires After 30 Years In SCUSD

Ms. Coleman teaching her biology class. Photo credit: Adriana Barrios.

 

Ms. Coleman, who has been one of C.K.M.’s most hardworking and exceptional science teachers for almost twenty years, has decided to retire at the end of this year, wrapping up thirty total years working in the Sacramento City Unified School District.

Ms. Coleman taught at Cal Middle School for six years before transferring to Kennedy High School, which she “couldn’t wait to leave,” until she finally landed at C.K.M. in 2000, where she has happily taught biology since.  

Having always taught science, Ms. Coleman has stood out as an exceptional molecular biology teacher, fully prepared to take on the instruction of McClatchy’s freshmen. “I love ninth graders!” she says. “They’re so fun, open to anything, enthusiastic.”

Ms. Coleman describes one of the best moments in her teaching career in one student she had who, three months into the school year, had “not said a thing, not turned in anything.”

“I was very frustrated,” explains Ms. Coleman, “because he was essentially failing and getting D’s, and I was feeling like he wasn’t learning anything.” She went on to describe that one day, during a discussion on the current topic they were studying, the student had suddenly put up his hand, and said “‘You guys are all wrong, here’s what it is.’”

“And he was absolutely right! That’s like the best thing that had ever happened,” exclaimed Ms. Coleman. “Afterward he started participating, it’s quite possible he felt like he wasn’t on the same level as the other kids, and then when he realized actually he was, it made him feel more confident. Those kinds of moments,” she said. “I live for those, they don’t happen all the time.”

While she’s sad to leave behind her students come retirement, Ms. Coleman hopes to stay involved with the C.K.M. community by substituting when she can. “I’m going to miss the kids a lot,” she said. “But I hope to come back and sub for those who I know are going to leave me a lesson and have good control over their classes.”

The students are not the only thing that Ms. Coleman is going to miss. “I really am going to miss working with the science department, and not just the science department,” she said. “The people that have been at McClatchy for most of my career, definitely my science colleagues, all the people I have worked with the whole time, all the people who are so involved are so special to me.”

When asked to reflect on her favorite parts of McClatchy, Ms. Coleman finds that what she loves most about her home school is the diversity, “McClatchy is so diverse, and that diversity is celebrated,” she remarked. “The fact that that diversity is universally seen as a strength by the adults and the kids, makes it a place you want to be.”

Ms. Coleman also commented on McClatchy’s open and welcoming sense of community that she observes everyday in the student body. “When you walk around McClatchy, you see kids together and hanging out and eating lunch together. When I was at Kennedy, it wasn’t like that.”

“And the staff has always been very collegial,” continues Ms. Coleman. “It is always ‘what’s best for kids?’ and people are always willing to make a sacrifice if it’s about kids.” She adds that this was not her sentiments at Kennedy. “The conversations here always seem to center around what’s best for our students, and that’s what it should be and that’s what feels most natural to me and so I just love it, I love the tradition.”

There are two things Ms. Coleman is most looking forward to enjoying in retirement. One is having more time to spend with her grandkids in the Bay Area and being able to be more a part of their lives, and “go to school on Grand-Parent’s Day.” Vacationing in the Galapagos is not entirely out of the question for her, as she does want to travel a little bit more, but she says, “Most immediately it is about family; I will be able to provide more support that was hard to do when I’m working, and I’m looking forward to being more available.”

The second thing Coleman looks forward to is an end to all grading. While Ms. Coleman’s heart will always be in planning lessons, the interactions with kids, working with her colleagues, she is looking forward to spending the 15-20 hours a week usually dedicated to grading and devoting it instead to time with friends and raising the garden she’s always wanted. “I love teaching, I’m absolutely done with grading,” she says. “It is the soul-crushing part of teaching. That being gone is going to be huge.”

Most of all, Ms. Coleman will simply miss being a part of the school she has always loved and appreciated, “I get up every morning looking forward to my job, I love what I do, not everyone can say that. I’m going to miss that.”

“Thank you to colleagues who have made it a pleasure to work here, thank you to the kids, the spark at C.K.M.,” says Ms. Coleman with a smile. “I’ve been very lucky to have kids who make me smile, and don’t make me want to tear out my hair too much. I’m going to miss C.K.M.”

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News

C.K.M. Students Fed Up With Climate Crisis, Stress Urgency For Change

As the environment suffers further destruction at the hands of human industry, C.K.M.’s young activists stress the importance and urgency of the worldwide problem of climate change.  

“Climate change is the most important political issue for our generation,” said RJ Czajkowski (‘20).

Libby Reynolds (‘20) said that climate change “should be a more discussed issue in politics.”

These students feel that the government must take action to protect the environment and prevent further damage.

Ultimately, these students would like to see large-scale policy changes to slow the effects of climate change. They suggested carbon taxes, subsidies on clean energy, re-entering the Paris Agreement—an agreement within the United Nations dealing with greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance, signed in 2016–and supporting other international climate agreements, and working with China to create groups of scientists to work together to find solutions. However, they believe that they can nurture the movement by rallying the community of Sacramento to make choices that protect our environment.

Throughout their high school years, dedicated students like Czajkowski, Reynolds, and Elli Arzbaecher (‘20), have been involved in climate change awareness and advocacy efforts.

“It’s necessary to discuss how everyone, regardless of their background, can take part. The most effective way is through raising our voices,” said Arzbaecher. “If everyone can collectively call for the creation of solutions and get involved in organizations that appeal directly to politicians and vote for the people who will strive to combat this issue, then we will see the change that we need.”

Arzbaecher and Reynolds attended the Youth School Strike for Climate in March, and Arzbaecher presented a poem about the turbulence surrounding climate change. Arzbaecher also organized to have a table at C.K.M.’s Eco Jam for 350 Sacramento, a local nonprofit grassroots organization dedicated to creating a sustainable future and combating climate change, and presented a short speech about the importance of youth voice in the discussion of environmental justice. “I’m currently in the process of helping plan and organize a summer camp to train youth about how to be activists specifically when it comes to environmental justice, and overall I am involved in developing [350 Sacramento’s] new youth team,” she said.

Arzbaecher also stressed the time-sensitive nature of this issue. “We do not have time to brush it under the rug, and everyone needs to have a collective moment where the lightbulb goes off and we realize how harrowing and destructive the coming effects of climate change will be.” She also offered that “finding ways to become active in local groups and to create a platform for your input as a young person and a student is one of the best ways to contribute to the fight against climate change and make sure that the people who will be hit the hardest by this crisis have significant representation in the development of a solution.”

Her action in the climate change movement is only the tip of an iceberg of dedication. She plans to spend the rest of her life “advocating for environmental justice and trying to create the change in policy that we need to solve this issue. I honestly believe that it is my responsibility as someone growing up in the midst of this catastrophe to do something about it, and it would be hypocritical of me to complain about our current leaders’ lack of action without doing anything myself.”

“I hope to student environmental science and policy in college and get to the point where my voice and influence can help create the solutions that we desperately need. I am determined to dedicate my life’s work to guaranteeing a safe future fo our generation and those to come if that’s what it will take, and I wholeheartedly hope that other young individuals with this same mindset will be able to come together and resolve this issue as best we can,” said Arzbaecher.

Reynolds also hopes to spend her life dedicated to this effort. In the future, she said “I would love to do environmental law or some other job related to this issue.” She has begun by creating an eco-club at an elementary school in the area to raise awareness among the young population.

Czajkowski feels that as students aging in the current climatic situation, we have no choice but to dedicate ourselves to the movement in some form. “We have to, because the older we get, the more pressing these issues become.”

Categories
News

SCTA Postpones Strike As District Deficit Is Reduced Significantly

Photo via Fox40.
Photo via Fox40.

 

At the meeting on May 16 between the teacher representatives of schools and the contract bargaining team, the Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) agreed to postpone the strike on good faith that the district will uphold their promise to meet and discuss how to deal with the newly structured budget crisis.

The new district budget proposal was released a week before the strike was intended to take place, and was “very different than the previous one,” according to social science teacher Lori Jablonski. “There was much less of a budget deficit, and the idea of state takeover was luckily pushed aside,” said Jablonski.

The budget crisis has been recalculated following a number of accounting errors that were found during projections of district finances that outlined how much money was coming from student enrollment and from the state. It was discovered that there were schools that were left uncounted, as well as numerous incorrect accounting assumptions. After addressing these assumptions, it was determined that the budget crisis is not as dire as the district had been saying.

Now that the budget deficit has been reduced, the threat of state takeover has been eliminated. At the same time, the district has indicated that it would be willing to meet with the union at a fiscal summit, according to Jablonski’s interpretation of the meeting.

At this summit, the district and the union would each go over their ideas on how to deal with overspending. “Hopefully we can show that in fact our ideas are doable, reliable, and could get us to a balanced budget, if that is indeed the case, all is good,” said Jablonski. “The contract that we previously negotiated, that we had previously struck over to make sure that it was adhered to, that would be upheld.”

“If it is shown through the summit that they can’t balance the budget in any way other than going back into the contract and making necessary changes then they would do that, but it wouldn’t be the district on their own saying ‘We don’t agree with it,’” Jablonski continued.

The fiscal summit will be convened by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Thurmond, and the head of the state agency that would take over the schools in the event of state takeover. The union agreed that they will cancel the strike on May 22 and place their trust in the district’s presence at the summit. “We said we will put off the strike, we didn’t say we would never strike, and we will take it this gesture that you will come to this summit and we will iron through this process,” said Jablonski.  

In a letter to SCTA leaders, Superintendent Aguilar voiced dismay towards the May 22 strike, saying it would be “devastating to our students, parents, employees, and our community, as well as to our common goal of working toward receiving the necessary funding for our schools”.  

He called the strike unjustified, “like the first”, and that despite his dated requests, “the District has not received from SCTA leaders a list of the unfair practices that [SCTA leaders] have identified to justify the strike”. In the letter, Superintendent Aguilar understood there were “more than thirty” alleged practices by the district that SCTA leaders believe support the strike, and “these reasons have been shared with SCTA members, and some of the District’s other labor partners, but never with the District.

Superintendent Aguilar concluded with a request asking that “SCTA provide the District with a list and detailed description of the alleged practices that you believe support the strike”. “We cannot be expected to come to a mutual understanding nor can you expect any concrete response from the District on these alleged practices without the basic information as to what unfair practices you believe have been committed”, wrote the Superintendent.

Categories
Entertainment

Game Of Thrones Finale: Winter Of Disappointment

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Game of Thrones. 

Winter came for Westeros and it did a lot of damage both to King’s Landing and HBO. The highly anticipated final season of one of the worlds biggest shows finally came to a close on May 19, 2019.

Like many other fans, I spent years religiously following the show and had high hopes for the final ending. Despite the small critiques the show had received during the earlier seasons, I ignored the comments and continued with high hopes knowing that perhaps the writers of the show knew what they were doing and were just  following George RR Martin’s lead with a few minor edits due to the network’s budget and the limited amount of time available .

I was a supporter of the writers’ decisions especially after there was no more of Martin’s novels to follow. It was up until Season 8 episode 3 when I unconsciously realized things were going to go downhill but my optimism nonetheless persisted and clouded my judgment. Arya killing the Night King was not expected and it gave the audience the shock factor that the shows runners were probably aiming to achieve.  However, it weighed heavily on my mind of whether or not this action was truly within her character’s storyline.

Although I understand that all of Arya’s training in Essos wasn’t all for nothing and it helped shaped who she is; a warrior not a lady. Perhaps “no one” as well. The problem is that the show had not set up her character enough to play such an important role compared to characters like Jon Snow or Daenerys who were written to be the main protagonists/saviors of the series. All of sudden it’s Arya’s role to be one who gets to kill the Night King despite only finding out about his existence a few episodes ago and being told that either Valyrian or dragon glass will do the job.The same argument can be made about Daenerys however, since the end of season 1 her character has been pointed out to be special to the point that she was immune to fire.

Both Jon and Daenerys were very much indeed hyped up to be the major obstacles standing in the Night King’s path. This included the major reveal of Jon Snow’s true ancestry being the legitimate product of both House Targaryen and House Stark, fighting White Walkers beyond the wall for multiple seasons, and being revived from the dead by a mysterious red priestess. Also the dramatic arrival of Daenerys with her three large dragons in the North with her foreign armies.

After allowing Arya to kill the Night King it made it seem that the White Walkers were not the biggest threat to Westeros despite the fact that the mere threat of their existence began both the opening of the first episode of the show and the novel. But anyways, now that the Great War is over does that mean that the Last War against Cersei was the most important? Cersei’s character alone is what triggered the start of Game of Thrones upon Jon Arryn discovering that the father of her children was not King Robert but instead her twin brother Jaime.  

Nevertheless, Cersei met her doom in the arms of her brother Jaime underneath the Red Keep.She was portrayed to be afraid of dying and her last words were mere whimpers about how she did not want to die despite in the past seasons she had embraced death rather than feared it.Reminder this the woman who murdered her own husband, was willingly going to commit suicide alongside her youngest son on the Iron throne during the Battle of Blackwater Bay, and walked down naked through the streets of King’s Landing without flinching. She also famously stated to Ned Stark in the first season, “When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die”.

Additionionally Jaime’s entire character arc was also flushed down the toilet. What was the point him being with Brienne? What about his constant feeling of being a total failure especially when he saw his list of lacking accomplishments as a distinguishable  member of the kingsguard? What about the valonqar prophecy that was told to Cersei when she was younger? All of these questions were left unanswered.

Episode five of the last season Daenerys’s character completely went against all of what she stood for in such a short period of time. Sure her character has always said she will take what is hers with fire and blood however, she never applied that violence toward women and children. In season 8 was the only season in which she kills innocent women and children verses in the past seasons where she only killed soldiers and men who had refused to swear her their allegiance. She literally locked away her dragons in Meereen when she was told that one of her dragons had killed an innocent child. Jon Snow also had hanged multiple people for defying him as Lord Commander including a child named Ollie. However, it is only because she is a a full Targaryen that it is the equivalent to madness.

No one is critiquing the ending plot for the characters but how they did it is what the problem is. The very important details they had laid out throughout all 8 seasons was left out despite the show being known for the various callbacks to each season. The whole season was just so rushed that it failed to give the audience a proper closure. A proper closure does not mean a show has to end the way the fans want but the writing to be good.

Despite the upsetting and disappointing writing of the last season of the show a lot of hard work and commitment was put into show by the actors and the crew members . No one is denying that fact. The audience should very thankful to the actors and the crew members since a lot of  time and millions of dollars spent into the production of the show. However, the amount of time and money put into a show does not automatically equal that the quality of the writing was the best. Just like any other tv show or movie the show is no different when it comes to receiving backlash from critics and the fans. However, there is no doubt in my mind that George R.R. Martin will give the fans the adequate delivery of the ending for the novels.

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Entertainment

Summer 2019 Playlist

Summer break is right around the corner, so why not start collecting some songs to put on your summer playlist? Here are some songs that will get you in the mood for summer.

  1. Doin’ Time – Lana Del Rey
  2. Feels Like Summer – Childish Gambino
  3. Boy With Luv – BTS feat. Halsey
  4. Juice – Lizzo
  5. Sucker – Jonas Brothers
  6. SUMMER – BROCKHAMPTON
  7. EARFQUAKE – Tyler, The Creator
  8. It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You) – The 1975
  9. Me & You – EXID
  10. Hatin – Rico Nasty
  11. My Bad – Khalid
Categories
Entertainment

Chill Songs To Study To

Here’s a playlist with some chill songs to study to for the upcoming AP testing and the fast approaching finals.

  1.  BLEACH – BROCKHAMPTON
  2.  Ribs – Lorde
  3.  Georgia – Kevin Abstract
  4.  Shalala – Moses Gunn Collective
  5.  Skiptracing – Mild High Club
  6.  One Another – Mac DeMarco
  7.  Pink + White – Frank Ocean
  8.  ‘Cause I’m A Man – Tame Impala
  9.  Your Best American Girl – Mitski
  10.  Haircut – Ryan Beatty
  11.  Fractions – CRAY
  12.  Rare Hearts – The Growlers
Categories
Entertainment

The Importance Of Lilly Singh

Lilly Singh on The Tonight Show. Photo credit: variety.com

Lilly Singh, or Superwoman, as her 14.6 million YouTube subscribers know her, has been a social media influencer since 2010. Since then, she has quickly grown, with millions of fans across the world, to where she is today, a household name and NBC’s newest late-night talk show host.

While almost reaching 15 million subscribers is a feat in itself, becoming the only female to currently host a late-night talk show on one of the Big 4 networks might just be bigger. Singh will be replacing Carson Daly’s “Last Call” slot at 1:35 a.m. and it has been justly retitled, “A Little Late with Lilly Singh.” It’s currently set to premiere in September.

Singh started out creating content in 2010 with quirky commentary on everyday life and the relatability of being an Indian-Canadian woman. Some of her most popular videos are centered around fictional parental figures she herself plays, Paramjeet and Manjeet, and has react to trending and controversial pop culture content.

Singh has collaborated with celebrities of all kinds, including big names like Will Smith, Dwayne Johnson, Priyanka Chopra, John Legend, and Alicia Keys, to name a few. She also collaborates with other YouTube sensations like James Charles, Shane Dawson, and Liza Koshy. She includes these celebrities in her witty skits that comment mainly on modern women and the complicated twists and turns of modern relationships.

The important thing about Lilly Singh isn’t her social skills and celebrity connections, or even her relatability, it’s her position as a philanthropist. Singh is an activist that has been strongly advocating for important issues like ending girl-on-girl hate, anti-bullying lifestyles, and against sexist rules and codes.

In 2017 Singh was announced as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador to advocate for children’s rights. She led a campaign called “GirlLove” which promoted the end of girl-on-girl hate. In the campaign she created a “GirlLove” rafiki bracelet and with the profits helped thousands of girls to gain rights to education in places like Kenya and India.

Singh time after time has proven to be more than a good character, but a just and well-rounded one too. Not only is she talented in her line of work, creating enjoyable and relatable entertainment for all kinds of people, but has left her mark on the world in more ways than one.

Lilly Singh has grown to be incredibly important in public eye, by becoming a role model for girls all around the world. It’s important to have women like Lilly in big, globally recognized positions like talk show hosts, that get broadcasted and reposted everywhere for everyone to see, to spread her success and existence. By showing there’s someone like Singh in such a revered position, despite being a bisexual Indo Canadian female, it shows girls all over that no matter their gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity, they too can be successful and help change the world for the better, just like Lilly Singh.

Categories
Sports

Sacramento’s Republic FC To Become MLS Team

The plan for Sacramento's new soccer stadium. Photo credit: MLSsoccer.com
The plan for Sacramento’s new soccer stadium. Photo credit: MLSsoccer.com

 

The city of Sacramento has long awaited for Major League Soccer (MLS) to expand into the city, and finally the wait might be over. Sacramento Republic FC, Sacramento’s professional soccer team, recently got a unanimous city council vote for their $215.2 million stadium. There was a private funding package that totaled up to $1 billion. It will be a 20,000 seat stadium build in a 17-acre site in the railyard district of Sacramento. Mayor Daniel Steinberg and Sac Republic owner Ron Burkle gathered with team supporters and called upon the MLS to make Sacramento the next expansion city. The mayor also expects high benefits from the new team expansion writing a check without city government.

The team will be sponsoring clinics and sports programs for the youth. It is also on the list of potential city base camps for the coming World Cup in 2026. Base cities will serve hosts to the traveling teams in the World Cup hosting their fans and many events. This would be a huge tourist boom for the growing city of Sacramento. With all of this set in place the city and team board along with the supporters, Sacramentans now wait for the MLS board to meet late in May to approve Sacramento to be a host city.  

The owners willing to lead the investor group that will spend more than half a billion dollars to expand into the MLS are Alvarez and Burkle. They will be spending another $200 million to join the MLS on top of the $252 million to build the stadium. When the new franchise started five years ago the expansion fee was down at $70 million, showing that the MLS is a growing sport and won’t be making as much money as the NBA or MLB. But thats why Burkle invested early in the sport, as the fan base is young and will grow and will have made is money back once the MLS has reached that point of success as a major sports corporation.

The team has seen recent success with the new signings gaining them more recognition. They will be the 29th team expanded to the MLS following the past eight teams who have been brought in over the past four years. The Republic hopes to keep the same core team as they make the transition into the MLS, but would make any changes necessary to help move the team forward. In 2018, the attempts to be added into the MLS quieted down as the Republic were building momentum to meet the requirements. They finished their plans agreed with the city of Sacramento, building new offices, making new hires, and making new investments making the move almost official.

McClatchy student Fernando Pelayo (‘19) has waited a long time for his team to make the expansion. “Yeah, I’m happy that there is a team coming to Sacramento, I was hoping we would get into the MLS in our attempts before but the wait was definitely worth it,” he said.

Milo Stibor (‘20) looks forward to the future of the Republic. “Looking at the team now, they’re only gonna get better and I’m glad I’ll be able to see this team rise up in the MLS.”

It will be a struggle for the Republic to gain traction in the MLS and become a big market team, but being able to get in the market now will be better than ever with the future growth of the sport.

Categories
Sports

NBA Playoffs First Round: Entertaining And Action-Packed

The first round of the NBA playoffs is over and brings us closer to the NBA finals. The first round may have been the most entertaining being action packed. Both conferences had very different initial rounds, as the East had a total of 18 games played and the West had a total of 24. In other words, there were more one-sided series in the East than there were in the West.

This wasn’t a surprise however, as this generation of NBA players has consistently had  more power-balanced teams. The fact that the East had very few power-house teams made it a bit easier to try and predict finalist teams.

In the 3rd and 6th seed rounds in the East, the Brooklyn Nets vs. Philadelphia 76ers. The teams were very verbal and both extremely competitive. Although the Nets won the first game of the series, the 76ers won the next four games, eventually eliminating the Nets. The 76ers beat the Nets by a difference of ten or more in three of the games.

In the 2nd and 7th seed round the Toronto Raptors took on the Orlando Magic. Game one was a surprising nail biter win by the Magic but would be the only win they would secure in the series. The Raptors dominated the rest of the series, cruising their way into the East semis to face off the 76ers.

In the 4th and 5th seed, the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers faced off. The young Celtics team, lead by Kyrie Irving, took control of the series quickly, holding the Pacers to less than 90 points in the first two games and continuing on to sweep the Pacers.

In the 1st and 8th seed round, the Milwaukee Bucks, led by MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo played the Detroit Pistons. It was a pretty obvious series watching the Bucks beat the Pistons by more than 15 every game. That brought the Bucks to face the Celtics in the East semis round.

Moving onto the the Western Conference, where there was a little bit more competition, the Portland Trail Blazers vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder faced off in a heated battle. This was a very dramatic series as Damian Lillard and Russell Westbrook going head to head the whole series. In the end, Damian Lillard took the Trail Blazers to the next round with a buzzer beater three point shot to close out the series.

In the 2nd and 7th seed the Denver Nuggets dualed off with the San Antonio Spurs. This was the only 1st round series that spurred  six more games with both teams playing very good team ball every single game. The Nuggets took out the Spurs in game seven, beating them by only four points. The Nuggets then moved onto the Western semis against the Trail Blazers.

In the 4th and 5th seed round the Houston Rockets vs. the Utah Jazz played one another. Houston, was at the time, being led by another MVP candidate, James Harden and was a fan- favorite team to win the  series. The Rockets didn’t disappoint and lived up to their fans expectations, winning the first three games as well as game five. The Rockets made short work of the Jazz making their move to the next round.

In the 1st and 8th seed round the all-star Golden State Warriors vs. the Los Angeles Clippers. The Warriors ultimately won the series in the end, but the Clippers didn’t go down without a fight. Los Angeles  won two games, one of them with a 30 point comeback; making it the largest in NBA playoff history. Nevertheless, the Warriors moved onto the West semis to play the Rockets which is a highly anticipated round and a big money maker for the NBA.

Here’s a brief glance at the second round: in the East, the 76ers vs. the Raptors and the Bucks vs. the Celtics. In the West, the Nuggets are set to take on the Trail Blazers and the Rockets will face . the Warriors. Looking at the new challenges that teams are creating will make this Finals matchup more of a toss up and won’t be dominated.  

Categories
Entertainment

May Poetry Collection

America

By Andrea Ayala

America, home of the brave and the free

America, you are proud and preach this for the world to hear

but yet easily criticize others who fail to imitate this

America, why do you turn your head away from actual equality and freedom

You sit there and watch as the streets are filled with the blood of your Brown and Black children

America, you preach justice but justice is never given

At least not for everyone

America, you pick and choose who gets to live a life of freedom and comfort but allow the other half to live in a world of barriers and mistreatment

America, why don’t you practice what you preach?

 

Identity

By Olivia Martinez

To the little girl unaware of her identity,

Her beauty of the culture from which she cultivates.

 

She will never believe her bronze skin is anything but a tan

Insecure that her knees will always be darker

And the closest color to her friends is that of the palm of her hand.

 

Her thick cocoa hair blazes her neck at recess,

only wish being for it to glow blonde

Freeing her neck and shoulders of rising temperatures.

 

Soon will she realize the porcelain complexions are

Envying her perfectly golden skin,

Admiring the fullness of her hair.

 

They long for her natural spanish beauty,

Craving for her identity.

 

Some Side

By Genesis Ellen

Once again he had found himself a spy

A steady wolf with an indignant eye

Latched to his pressures with a false alibi

A meek soul who’s ego had just gone too high

Puzzled by the vast inquisition that passed him by

An aged pretender still gripping to the sky

He’ll never make it without you or me

The silk caresses my shoulder blades

The way you love to do

It lays with meaning

Protecting me

 

Undressing 

By Olivia Martinez

Cotton on delicate skin

Replaces the hold i used to crave

 

Straps dig into my skin

It gets under just the same

 

Impale me with the underwire you robbed,

Trailing with meters and meters of elastic

Unaware of the consequences to come.

 

Fracture

By Genesis Ellen

 

Light stays waiting on the edge of my shadow

Close alongside with no room left to grow

Little do I know

 

With its lackluster mysteries driven through me in fear

Whispering my secrets for only us to hear

Across newly formed bridges of thoughts streaming in the ear

Ashamed, it is these bleak ideas, taking storage in the clear

 

For from mistakes that were swelled in the heat of their fury

I’ve learned ways to cross over in less of a hurry

And show once and for all, my shadow, that my soul’s no longer so blurry

 

Julia 

By Olivia Martinez

Look at us 18, and thriving

We take it day by day.

I love looking back,

Before braces,

Before boys,

Before i considered you a friend.

 

The baja to my blast

Family to my guy

Someone who was always there,

My light at the end of the tunnel.

 

Blink and we’re 800 miles away

Facetime every single day,

I’ll see you thanksgiving break.