The Office of Minority Achievement put out a special collection of poetry and art celebrating the 2015 Words Out Loud Competition. Nearly one-third of all of the entries this year surrounded the theme #BlackLivesMatter. Here is just a sampling of our peer’s work:

We Are Colored

by Carlos Sequeiros

Black is the color of their skin

Whites are the ones who always win

tired of the anger tired of the rage

Nation’s gotta ask when people will change

Nothing but fear

Shots when no ones near

In the streets the screams are loud

But they fall silent in the crowd

Why does their complexion

make them lose protection

we’re the same

don’t let them take the blame

It’s just color

Let’s love each other

Racism

By Marjori Hernandez

Racism is bullying

Don’t play with it

Racism is like a coal on a hot day

The clock ticks

People do bad things

Racism makes people sick

Racism comes without love

Racism makes people die

Don’t be afraid to tell someone to stop if someone bothers you

Don’t cry

Love is a word that everyone has to know

That word love comes with peace and justice

That is the perfect way to know each other and work together

How else can we beat racism?

Prettier Skin Than Mine

By Sophia Wallace

I was walking around Toys ‘r Us with my cousins, and I notice a girl

A young girl,

A girl still in her early elementary school years

An African American girl

“Mommy? Can I have the Cinderella Doll?”

The mother says no, and keeps walking with her daughter

“But Mommy… She has prettier skin than mine…?”

The mother starts to scold her, not too loud

Audible enough for me to hear–

“That’s not true!”

I pause, I ponder, and I proceed to ask myself:

“Prettier skin than mine? Why would she think that?:

That line right there hit me like a punch in the stomach

And alas, one word pierces through my mind:

Racism

I’m not sure if that’s the case honestly, but it sure feels like it

Maybe if she was bullied, despite her age

Maybe it was the media, that’s what many say

Maybe she was the racial minority in the area

Maybe I’m simply over-analyzing the situation

and yet, I feel like I’m not

But one thing worries me

Something I know that is happening somewhere

There are probably more people thinking that about themselves

There are probably more people than I’d expect thinking the same thing

After all, with racist people being able to be heard easily

With social media, the news, anywhere

Whether it be virtual or reality

People can still hear it, anywhere

At home, outside, on a computer

Anywhere

And being able to hear that whenever

That’s one line that could hurt any parent having to hear racism constantly

“But Mommy… She has prettier skin than mine.”

What if…

By Mary Ann Dipp-Zabaleta

I watch television

they start talking on the news

“gangster, robber, and murderer”

repeat and echo

but “crook” is the most used

He’s black they say

Then I thank the cops for doin’ their

job

“BOOM!” Then I realize

What if…

he’s innocent

What if…

He’s a father

What if…

He’s a son.

Inside Out

by Marco Estrada

I think the world is incomplete.

I see young blood of African

American males.

Sounds like injustice if you ask me!

Tastes like the salt in the sweat

dripping down the face of those males

who run from the demons,

So called neighborhood heroes.

Smells like the dead, eroding, bodies

lying on the cold pavement.

Like African Americans were nothing.

Feels like the world we live in,

Is now turned inside out.

Black

by John Holt

There go his feet,

running down the street,

he’s running cause he stole some stuff he didn’t need,

he also took a couple puffs of weed,

Now wait, hold up: some cop just got the call,

he radios in to HQ and says, “I’m on the ball”,

this rookie thinks it might be fun,

he’s quickly loading up his gun,

The cop yells “stop!” Don’t run away,

Don’t make me kill someone today

But run he did and “Bang Bang Bang”

now he’s gone: oh well, oh dang,

But if this kid was not black,

would he have got shot in the back?

Amadou Diallo

by Justin Clark

BAM BAM BAM

The sound of 41 shots being fired

Surround New York

As policemen go crazy with the gun

They shot him down like an animal

Amadou falls to the ground as he gets pounded with bullets

Diallo’s death didn’t cause commotion

as the police probably got promoted

the sound of agony from Diallo

as his blood is spilling on the street.

Untitled

by Cindy Lopez

50 states of freedom

Single states, red, white, and blue

Stars help us find independents

But when will it come

People getting beaten up

People being mistreated

There’s racism

There’s racism

There’s police brutality

There’s no peace in this world

When will it come?