​

I am

A member of the

Too dramatic

Ungrateful

Lazy

Selfish

Don’t understand

Will get slapped in the face with reality when we’re old enough

Flock

That adults dread

 

Adults who cannot grasp the concept that

Reality exists on a spectrum and this is mine.

Life is a play starring me and it’s tragedy.

No matter what I do

How hard I push back

What expectations I hold myself to

What obstacles I overcome

How many times I manage to get out of bed and take on this God forsaken world,

I am never good enough.

 

Trying to make it through every day feels like trying to pin down the clouds

I know I’m pushing too hard, but my

Falling head first over the ledge of my own sanity

Seems to them as just needing to grow up.

My body refuses to age the way my mind is forced to.

The girl who has to hold the weight of the world on her shoulders

When she doesn’t even have a grasp of what the world really is.

 

I am forced to hold my breath but I’m running out of oxygen.

 

To have a voice is to have power

And I  lost my ability to speak

 

Words trapped at the tip of my tongue

Begging me to scream

And I try

I writhe and struggle

Shout at the top of my lungs until my eardrums rupture

 

Yet they hear nothing.

 

We the people

Of the nation built on silence

Demand not only to be heard

But to be listened to.

 

“You’re too young to understand”

“It’s not depression, it’s just hormones. Have you tried the pill?”

“Oh my god you’re on the pill? You slut.”

“You aren’t adhering to the dress code”

“Do you want to come across as that girl?”

“That kind of language isn’t ladylike.”

“You asked to be treated this way when you decided to be gay.”

“It’s just a phase.”

“Keep your head low and everything will be fine.”

“Stop being so dramatic.”

 

Enough.

Enough excuses.

Enough questions.

Enough pity.

Enough opinions.

Enough talking.

 

Because we never asked for any of it.

 

Just listen.

To us.

 

To the people who are going to be leading this country

To the ones who will hold your world in their hands.

 

Because we don’t have power now but you should be damn sure that we will.

 

Listen to my words.

Here on this page

 

To me.

The woman

The citizen

The survivor

The queen

The lover

The dreamer

The warrior

The human being

The everything in between those god forsaken lines you have drawn for me.

 

I have a voice

And it’s time I use it.

​

​

​

​

​

There are marginalized voices in every part of society. We as educators, students, and people of the education community can help give these people a voice. A place on the stage. Opportunity. Here, I have listed several amazing texts that focus on giving a voice to those who have been silenced. Please give them a read and use them in your classrooms. 

​

This is our education, our future, our story.

​

Make it count.