Student Work/Thoughts

It’s been a while, a long while. While I’ve been afforded the chance to think about education and educating and could blab and blog on for ages, instead I’d like to publish some student work here. Know that the student is aware that their work is published on this blog.

Prior to feeling the words of her poetry, here's a bit of background about the author, M.Y. She is an underclasswoman at the high school in which I work, and like many of the students there, is a multilingual and truly multicultural, African immigrant. She has been my student since August of 2006, and in my interactions with her, has almost always presented herself as one of the most upbeat and optimistic of any of my students. Although I wasn't surprised by the themes and ideas presented in her poetry, they definitely contradict her usual smile.

When students, or anyone, has the chance to free write and record the thoughts that roam in their minds, they merit attention and analysis. The poetry that you'll find at the conclusion of this blog screams about what is important in the eyes of the student, or better said, on what the student's eyes are forced to focus. Her words depict a common high school vista, where respect, style and violence weigh heavily. Augmenting those themes are the wants of acceptance and belonging, especially in instances where appears the word "family".

From a critical literacy perspective, this student and others consciously feel the disconnect between themselves and the support systems that they should have. For some students, the educational system fails them (curriculum, teachers, etc.), their friends fail them, their family fails them. Particularly in "Why Not", she highlights the values that many teenagers have - sense of style, need for respect - and examines how upholding these values can lead to jail or physical violence, respectively. Therefore, the teenage value system fails our young adults yet another time. As a student, I know that the author is reaching great heights, but I can only wonder what higher summits she would be able to climb if she had access to more stable support.

"Dream", is written mimicking the Harlem Renaissance's style of poetry; while M.Y. has not journeyed to all the places in her work, she has left her immediate family and come to Washington and her aunt's house by way of Seattle, Washington and Ethiopia. She is, then, well-acquainted with the unique, trying process of picking up in one place and starting anew in another. The low value and little respect that immigrants receive is a major theme that runs through "Dream"; the poem is aptly named, considering the dream that M.Y. has and the reality in which she finds herself.

I hope that you’ll respond with your thoughts about her works. Student works are some of the few uplifting things still in DCPS. The other uplifting things are, of course, the experiences we share with them and their sincerity. Now, that's just my opinion, and I'm waiting to hear yours.

"Why Not" by M.Y.

What are the people of our future looking like?
Scream, Shout, Smack, Smash,
You want to see how tough I am?
I'm getting ready to beat the hell out of that girl.
Bounce her head up and down the court like a Basketball.
She mugged at me,
She looked at my man.
And she copped my style.
I'm getting ready to hit a "J" tonight
Why not?
Go party!
Hey! Why not?
Have some Bacardi,
If my friends do it, why not?
Gucci,
Louis Vuitton,
North Face,
Oh, I have to have those,
Even if it means getting locked up.
I need to feel protected,
I need a family.
Fill my heart with love.
But in return for something else...
Why not, represent my families' colors.
Black, red, blue
I love my colors.
Bang! A loud sound broke the silence.
Another member of my family gone.
Scarlet rain pouring.
I'm stuck in a black hole.
So dark full of fear.
Every night I sit and think with a dark cloud over my head.
I don't like my new family,
I want to get out,
but the only way out is a bullet through my heart.
Words buzzing in my ears,
so annoying as a cricket.
Stop,
Drop,
Wake up,
Stop messing up your life, you got a future to get to.
But, Why not listen?


"Dream" by M.Y.

I had a dream of making a better life for myself.
from being tossed around
beaten,
blood dripping all over my body.
Working hard
for people who would kill me tomorrow and
burn me to death
and so, I left rural south.
I had the choice of cities in the North,
Chicago,
Harlem,
Washington, DC,
St. Louis.
I said to myself Harlem here I come.
Living in Harlem, I began my journey.
As an African American.
Striving hard to show my talents.
Jazz,
Art, Literature,
so many choices,
so little opportunities just because I'm Black,
But I'm just like everybody else;
I don't care what anyone says about the color of my skin.
Which one should I begin my journey with, because I have a lot to say.