Tolerance Unit Poetry 2016

Now I Am Free - Civil Rights Poem by: E.P. I am black.

Once I was segregated.

Now I am free.

Once I was threatened.

Once I was bullied.

Once I was beaten.

Now I am free.

Once I was terrified.

Once I was fearful.

Once I was cautious.

Now I am free.

Once I was brave.

Once I was courageous.

Once I was fearless.

Now I am free.

I am black.

Once I was segregated.

Now I am free.

I Remember - M.P. I remember.

I remember what happened that day, The day the white men came.

They seemed harmless enough.

Those strange men put up a facade That cloaked their dark intentions and masked their sinful greed.

What did we do?

The white men betrayed us.

They attacked villages and families.

The Cherokee people lived there.

It was our home.

You can’t take it.

But they did.

Why? Why did we have to leave?

Why did the white men take everything?

Why did they destroy our lives?

We didn’t do anything.

Everything is gone.

Our people were forced off of our land.

Forced to walk this never-ending trail To an unfamiliar place Where we have nothing.

Everyone is dying.

Disease rages through our camps.

Bodies are hastily buried in shallow graves

On the side of the path.

The haunting wails of broken families echo in my ears, Drowning me in despair.

I am empty.

I have nothing left.

I marched along emotionless.

My will shattered.

I have given up, Droning on endlessly.

Hate.

Hate is all I feel and all I have left to cling onto and keep from sinking deeper into madness.

I hate the white men.

I hate the ones who took our homes Destroyed our lives Murdered our people, All for monetary gain.

They tossed away the Cherokee people As if we were vermin, Trash to be disposed of.

We are human beings.

The new land.

It was a strange place, untouched by humans.

We had to start from scratch.

Learning how to hunt the animals here, Building new homes,

Continued - M.P. Planting new farms.

People were weary from the trip.

Many people died along the way.

Many more died in the harsh winters.

They were murdered by the white men.

I will remember.

I will remember the dead, Long after they’ve been forgotten.

I will remember their killers, The white monsters that destroyed lives.

I will remember them for as long as I live And I won’t let the crimes be buried.

Civil Rights Movement African Americans - G.L.

I remember the awful words that chose how we lived life.

I remember the howls of the police dogs, snarling and biting.

I remember the sit-ins and how something so little made such a big change.

I remember the KKK, destroying our way of life.

I remember the discrimination, the yelling, the violence.

I remember marching up and down the streets of Montgomery, always being stopped with force.

I remember the violence brought down on us just because of the color of our skin.

I remember trying to resist the temptation of hitting someone who was cursing at me.

I remember walking for 381 days without taking the bus.

I remember being escorted by the police, just to go to school

I remember when the racial barrier broke and I finally felt free.

Will they remember?‌ Will they change? - A.DL

I am one of the many people that was made a beast by the German government in WWII. I wonder who else lived the dream of being free. And the dream of being equal, to have no one wanting to come and smash down your door, and take you away.

I hear of the many stories of people being shoved on trains, to be with other people that were sick, hurt, or dying right in front of their eyes..

I see the many people that were mistreated and had people look for them like vultures, on a dead tree, staring down on us until we die. And if they had a chance to get us, they would swoop down and we would be dead.

I want many people to understand what happened back in that time of fear, of the many who were mistreated, and I want them to see the wrong in what the people did.

I am one of the many people that was made a beast and made an irregular, evil person by the German government in WWII. I pretend that the people that were killed were freed in some way.

I feel that they will become the glistening butterflies flying freely and with no care in the world, just being absolutely free...

I worry for the people who avoid this period and disregard it because they thought it did not really happen.

I cry for the family that lost someone that they loved, but I cry because the family could not mourn for those lost ones because they too were lost right after that person died.

I am one of the many people that was made a beast and made an irregular, evil person by the German government in WWII. I understand the feeling of wanting to be free, but being sent on a train, though I would like to be free with my family.

I say that everyone, everywhere should teach people of the importance of this event.

I dream that, in the near future, everyone will remember this event and won't make poor choices.

I try to imagine a world without prejudice and discrimination.

I hope people will learn from their mistakes.

I am one of the many people that was made a beast and made an irregular, evil person by the German government in WWII.

Japanese Internment - C.S.

I remember when I was on my porch, on a sunny day.

A man came up to my front door and asked for me,

then he put me in cuffs.

I didn’t know why he did that.

The next thing I knew, I was in an internment camp.

It was rough. I didn't know anybody. My heart was racing.

I remembered the days that I got treated the same way as others.

Why did they do this? Why did they treat us like this? We did nothing wrong.

All my things are gone, my house, my family. I didn’t even said goodbye to them.

I don’t know how long I’m going to be in here.

I Don’t Understand - D.L.

I don’t understand why the Nazis would bring us to a concentration camp, why we were murdered and tortured if we didn’t go, or why Hitler hated us Jews.

But most of all I don’t understand why we were getting mistreated, why Hitler was so mean, even though he was a dictator, or why Hitler made the Nazis kill us.

What I understand most is, why we went into hiding

It Was Not Fair - S.R. It was not fair.

We were abused, and hurt.

But we tried to be strong.

We sat peacefully.

We were calm when we were hurt.

Hoses were sprayed at us.

People spit on us.

We were called hateful names.

They didn’t know us.

We hadn’t done anything to them.

We were just asking for our rights.

The right to vote.

The right to go anywhere.

The right to sit anywhere on a bus.

The right to be served at any lunch counter.

The right to be called equals.

We were strong when times were hard.

We waited so long.

In silence we sat.

Until we were given the rights we deserved.

We were misunderstood.

Nobody would ever understand what we went through.

The scary journey we had to go through.

Nobody will ever understand.

It was not fair.

I am - C.V.W. I am watching a black woman refusing to give up her seat.

I wonder if she wants trouble.

I hear the bus driver yell at her and call the police.

I see the officer board the bus and peacefully take her away.

I want to know what she meant when she refused to give up that seat.

I am watching a black woman refusing to give up her seat.

I pretend to be interested in the view outside.

I feel horrible that I can’t seem to say something.

I worry what that black woman will do, or what they will do to her.

I cry out in my mind to leave her alone, but alas, it is too late.

I am watching a black woman refusing to give up her seat, I understand why she refuses to admit defeat.

I say to my family later,“ She has a point you know.”

I dream, and in my dream I ask a mirror, “Why did she have to go?”

I try to imagine what my life would be like if that black woman let them have her seat.

I hope that the Civil Rights Movement will also, refuse to admit defeat.

I am watching a black woman refusing to give up her seat.

African American Fight for Freedom - C.V.W.

After so many days of being enslaved they still were not allowed their freedom.

The fight for their rights was not a simplistic, or easy one.

Valiantly, African Americans battled until finally, they won.

African American victory was gained through miles of seemingly endless pain to free their children forever.

To free their children, to serve them with the right to sit on a bus, to eat at any restaurant, to have a voice, to free them from the bloody fight

of racism.

And they did.

Now they look back on the pain of the past, and the glory of the present.

To be able to see the foolishly brave as heroes.

The Little Rock Nine were not treated fine, as acid harassed them daily.

Still, they fought, day after day, to put segregation justly away.

And they did.

Martin Luther King Jr. gave his speeches, unto Washington, and with them he brought the African Americans’ rights into sight.

With that, people did see, a world filled with equality, then they did smite the hateful laws away, to gain African American Freedom.

And they did.

I Remember - C.V.W.

I remember visiting Birmingham.

I remember the town rattling and booming.

I remember racing to the church with my mother.

I remember seeing the crowd of people.

I remember seeing the sobbing mothers trying to race in to save their children.

I remember the rallies afterwards.

I remember Dr. King.

I remember hearing his speeches rise like mist over a canyon, to give way to morning light.

I remember my mother racing me home to tell my father.

I remember we marched to hear him speak, all the way to Washington.

I remember the day when the signs were taken down, and I could sit wherever I wanted.

Once I Was - C.V.W.

Once I was afraid of the dogs. 
 Once I was afraid of the Klan.

Once I was afraid of their hoses.

Now I am stronger.

Once I was afraid of fighting for my rights.

Once I was nervous to stand up.

Once I was the one person to stay at home, as my friends and neighbors marched for me.

Now I am marching to Washington.

Once I was afraid of getting hurt.

Once I was doubting if I was strong enough to make the difference.

Once I was angry that I didn’t have the courage to march for what I wanted to badly.

Now I am prepared to have our freedom granted, and prepared to make the difference.

Once I was afraid of being around white people.

Once I was so innocent.

Once I was naive enough to believe that people would leave the fight alone.

Now I am standing strong with hundreds of Freedom Marchers, negroes and whites, ready to spare blood for our cause.

Wishes and Fears - C.V.W. I am afraid of the Klu Klux Klan.

I am afraid of the dogs that threaten me.

I am afraid of the hoses that bruised my family.

I am afraid of the white people who chase us with clubs and barbed wire.

I am even afraid of what they would do if we got our freedom.

I want peace.

I want silence.

I want no one to have their blood spilled for their withheld rights.

I want the battle to stop.

Most of all, I want equality and acceptance.

Hold On - C.V.W.

Hold on to hope of a free tomorrow.

Even if the KKK threaten you.

Hold on to your beliefs.

Even if they harass you.

Hold on to your deserved freedom.

Even if the KKK burn their cross in front of you.

Hold on to your deserved rights.

Even if they beat you and spray you with hoses.

Hold on to the dream of integration.

Even when the segregationists try to beat you to hopelessness, and resignation, Hold on.

Life Was Harder When Looking Down - Adrianna Acciavatti People say nothing lasts forever.

And I say, never say never.

They took me away.

They hid me far.

They took me away from my home and onto a trail.

It seemed so bizarre.

They told me what happened.

But I didn’t understand.

So I had a plan.

I would run.

I would hide.

Until what they lost they could not find.

But I was found and placed back on the trail.

By myself and alone.

But what did they care?

And before I knew it, the day had grown on.

Just like everything else I had lost.

I wondered why.

Was this even right?

I had lost everything in the blink of an eye.

But even to this day I still wonder.

Why? Why was this right?

I hope that someday the government figured out what they did wrong.

So happier people can live on.

Alone No Longer - Thorin Saucier

Once I was disrespected by my community, and even my neighbors. 
 Once I was separated, in restaurants, in stores and on buses.

Once I was ignored, everywhere I went, just because I was different.

Now I am determined to change the ethnic norm.

Once I was mocked and spit upon, just for which race I happened to be.

Once I was mistreated: verbally, mentally, and physically.

Once I was fought against, by everyone who saw me.

Now I am demanding the change this city needs so desperately.

Once I was discriminated against, hated and broken down.

Once I was watched, waited for to do something wrong.

Once I was looked down upon, thought to be lesser than my white peers.

Now I am fighting, not just for myself, but for my friends, family and community.

Once I was silent, too frightened to make a change.

Once I was afraid, not wanting to know what would happen.

Once I was alone, alone in a hopeless fight for freedom.

Now I am alone no longer in the fight for what is right.

I Remember - Jacob McCormack I remember when my husband beat me near to death.

I remember when I couldn’t leave because a women couldn’t rent.

I remember when my case was laughed off in the courts.

I remember when I told my husband to vote for William Howard Taft, but that’s not how the vote came back.

I remember asking if I could protest in the streets. My husband hit me at the suggestion and aimed his shotgun towards me.

I remember when I snuck out secretly, one time I almost awoke him but I managed to quickly leave.

I remember when the 19th amendment passed.

I remember being able to finally to vote and leave.

I remember how much joy I felt when I voted for Mr. Harding. (Though in hindsight he was a horrid man.)

I remember how the struggle still was not done.

I remember how I still felt joy to be away from a man who screamed every other hour of every single day!

Free - Mary-Kate Smith Once I was bombed by the KKK. Once I was burned by the flames created around me.

Once I was threatened by whites younger than me.

Now I am strong.

Once I ate at a restaurant, where I should not eat.

Once I sat on the bus, where I should not sit.

Once I swam in a pool, where I should not swim.

Now I can eat, sit, and swim where I please.

Once I protested across a bridge.

Once I got sprayed by a hose and bit by a dog.

Once I walked into a white school.

Now I am free.

Why? - Liam Farrell

Why is there discrimination?

Why do we wake up every day and ask ourselves questions and yet we still don’t know the answers?

This is the time for a change. A time for a movement to rise up above all and change our world for the good.

We cannot forget the past, and we must use what we know to further our world.

Discrimination is a problem still ongoing in the United States and around the world.

Today is the day that we will unite ourselves so that we may live in peace.

The status quo is changing.

But words are easy to say.

And work is hard to do.

Each person can make a difference.

So I ask‌ Why? Why is there still no change?

Why are people living in fear?

Why?