IN OUR OWN VOICES
                 

I’m Sayin’     by Mahogany Elau Foster, age 16

                       Things I have to tell you: poems and writing by teenage girls

Yo!

I would be a liar

If I was to say I didn’t care about all of the madness

The destruction.

I mean sure I think about the future of my peers

And all of the younguns

I think about the lies that have been fed to them

And I think about all the ones who just sat there and ate it all up.

MMM, man I’m sayin’!

Why spend up all of your time abiding by social rules?

Why spend up all of your time following trends and fads?

Why spend up all your time thinking about what people are thinking about you?

Why try to appeal to the masses?

Why not go out on a limb and be who you want to be?

What if one day you decided to wear your hair nappy?

Sport your tribal colors?

Throw up your fists?

Quote Malcolm X and Martin Luther King,

Read Nikki Giovanni and Angela Davis.

Dance the dance of Mother Africa,

Greet people in Swahili!

Be STRONG  and PROUD.

While being honest and trusting.  And Hard-working.

Yo!  Is there a way?

Is there a way?

Man…I’m Sayin!