The 2016 Black Youth Write! (BYW) is a program aimed at advancing intellect, identity development and literacy proficiency of youth while focusing on reading and writing about Black protest movements from the 1800s to #BlackLivesMatter. Participating youth read rich African American literature and think about their own identities and positions for improving the conditions for humanity.
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Week4- Open Letters (Dear Future Sister/Brother Author)
Sister Author 10 Dear Future Sister Authors, If you are reading this, know that this society will not support you. Because we are women, they say we are weak, useless, and a burden. But, they are wrong. We are strong, powerful human beings, and we have to make society acknowledge that. We can make changes, but it will take hard work. We can`t let people try to take control of us, and make the stereotypes and let them sit on us as if we were chairs. We must arise and prove that are natural beauty is worth it. We must build a bridge that our people can walk on, and make it sturdy so that it will never fall down. Don`t be a follower, be a leader. And let the followers soon be the next to lead.
dear future sister authors, WE LIVE IN A WORLD WITH LOTS OF DOUBT AND HATE. NEVER LET ANYONE TELL YOU THAT YOU ARE NOT WORTH FIGHTING FOR. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, SMART, TALENTED, AND SO MUCH MORE. NEVER LET SOCIETY BRING YOU DOWN.
Dear Sister and Brother, I was just were you are now and I can tell you I was quite nervous. I didn’t know anybody in class and neither did I care too. However I eventually came to see everyone as family. I hope you do too. I urge you to share your writings. I didn’t really want to in the beginning, however once I did, it turned out I was better than I thought. I used to think I couldn’t write poems, but once I tried it turned out I was pretty good. Also, everything is practice. I went through countless drafts before the final product was made. I know I sound like a teacher right now but trust me, it pays off to know this. And just don’t sweat your writings too much. There is no such thing as being the worst so go for it. You should also not be afraid to share your work with other brother and sister authors. I know when I was sharing mine I was concerned about my penmanship and whether it was even good enough to be read by others. Often I found that others liked my writing and had suggestions to further my writing. This is very helpful so I ask that you use everyone to your advantage. I guarantee you this will pay off in the future. It is also important to get yourself comfortable before you start writing. This practice helps generate ideas which allows your writing to flow. This helped me with my writing and I think it’ll help you as well. Lastly but most importantly, have fun with your writing. At first I treated this writing program like it was a school giving me assignments, however, I found myself enjoying my writing rather than looking for a grade. The truth is there is no grade. So write from your heart. Thanks for listening. BA 16
Sister Author 10 Dear Future Sister Authors, I am addressing YOU, and only you because I feel in my heart that we are pushed away and trying to be removed from society. If you are reading this, know that this society will not support you. Because we are women, they say we are weak, useless, and a burden. But, they are wrong. We are strong, powerful human beings, and we have to make society acknowledge that. We can make changes, but it will take hard work. We can`t let people try to take control of us, and make the stereotypes and let them sit on us as if we were chairs. We must arise and prove that are natural beauty is worth it. We must build a bridge that our people can walk on, and make it sturdy so that it will never fall down. People will say we can`t think, so think of your lovely bright ideas. They say we are ugly, so show your beautiful face. We have the power to make things better, stronger and more powerful. Let your beauty show. Be the girl that YOU want to be. Don’t let anybody, ANYBODY, create your identity or tell what and WHO you are. Stop the poverty, the stereotypes, and sexual abuse that is used against us. You are worth more than a million. The only limit is the one that you set for yourself. Dance. Be proud of who you are. Don`t make any regrets. Stand. Write. Speak. Feel free, and make an accurate meaning of freedom that we can use. Beat the odds in everything. Have people inspired by your writings, your creativity, your EVERYTHING. Don`t be a follower, be a leader. And let the followers be the one soon to lead.
Sister Author 10 Dear Future Sister Authors, I am addressing YOU, and only you because I feel in my heart that we are pushed away and trying to be removed from society. If you are reading this, know that this society will not support you. Because we are women, they say we are weak, useless, and a burden. But, they are wrong. We are strong, powerful human beings, and we have to make society acknowledge that. We can make changes, but it will take hard work. We can`t let people try to take control of us, and make the stereotypes and let them sit on us as if we were chairs. We must arise and prove that are natural beauty is worth it. We must build a bridge that our people can walk on, and make it sturdy so that it will never fall down. People will say we can`t think, so think of your lovely bright ideas. They say we are ugly, so show your beautiful face. We have the power to make things better, stronger and more powerful. Let your beauty show. Be the girl that YOU want to be. Don’t let anybody, ANYBODY, create your identity or tell what and WHO you are. Stop the poverty, the stereotypes, and sexual abuse that is used against us. You are worth more than a million. The only limit is the one that you set for yourself. Dance. Be proud of who you are. Don`t make any regrets. Stand. Write. Speak. Feel free, and make an accurate meaning of freedom that we can use. Beat the odds in everything. Have people inspired by your writings, your creativity, your EVERYTHING. Don`t be a follower, be a leader. And let the followers be the one soon to lead.
I come to you to tell you that Black Lives Matter; Agree ? I sure do...Being in this program would help you far as getting to know the challenges that Black Americans had to face. Also, you would learn history about our powerful heroes. Our heroes that spoke up without any hesitation or even made a change. Dont get me wrong, It wasn't all smooth but it was worth it. You as a young sister Author will get to write poems, short stories,raw writes, and much more ; according to Black Lives. My advice to you is speak up, put your input in whatever you might think you need to and help each other without judging.
I write to you in a state of urgency. Out here in the streets there are problems that must be addressed. Problems that cant go away with silence. I understand that Instagram and Snapchat are poppin but whats really poppin are your rights. So pop back into reality and stand up! With the powerful social media platform that us youth has today its very easy for trends to happen, so instead of using social media for fun use it to inform the world any way that you can. With this program access to media isn't hard, there is constant inspiration coming in and out of the doors to influence the true protest writer that you are. No matter what form of writing poetry, short stories, etc. Resistance writing is the strongest most important form of writing because of the points it attacks and the people it touches. But what really matters is the person that is writing it, people don`t usually expect youth to speak on such points of importance so when they do they listen. The youth are the voices of the future and will be heard.
sister author 13 Dear future sister’s authors, This is a good helpful program for y’all .It gives you information that you need to succeeded in life. Listen stay focus and don’t give up. Black Lives Matters is a program to tell you a little or more about our past and what’s going on today. I feel you will think that this program will help you I life and let you go down the right path. I feel that this program will let you succeeded in life. I feel that most young black children should join this program because it will help you understand what’s going on in life and show you what most people deal with on a daily base. I feel that most young children doesn’t understand what’s going on in the world they just hear what people talk about and take it and go mix up their words and tell somebody the wrong story.
Open Letter Brother Author 12 Future Brother and Sister Authors Living in 2017 is probably like hell for you isn't it? All of these problems: racism, parents, teachers, etc.. You’ve got to deal with the fact that you’re black, which in today’s society, is really unpleasant. In every history textbook that you’ve read you were a slave. Even when we weren’t slaves anymore, we’ve just been entertainers, literally. Every day one of us get shot. And even the positive things that we have are small. 90%of the rich black people you know about are basketball players, football players, dancers, actors, etc. And that’s all we’re known for. We’re just entertainers. YOU’RE BLACK! And trust me, in the back of your head, you hate that (at least I did). Everything I mentioned in the first paragraph was wrong. We aren’t just entertainers. We aren’t all poor. We weren’t just slaves. Did you know that black people were the first on earth? Did you know that black people were the first to invent mathematics, and science, and reading? That we’ve created things that nobody else in the world have created (ex. the pyramids), even though each pyramid block is about 400,000 pounds? We are much better than we are portrayed. So my overall advice to you is, be black, not the portrayal of black. Be black!
I write to you about what I earned from this 12 day program and hoping that you take the lesson and gain more knowledge about black communities then what you came in the program with. In this program you don't have to write for a good grade. You get to right for the depths of your heart. As a sister I feel as if you should write how you feel but not to try to offend others but to make other aware of the unloving societies of black lives. What I learned from here is that there is nothing wrong with protest. Protest is just a statement or action expressing disapproval to something. Like you are learning, I also learned how to write whatever comes to my mind about a topic. It helps because when you have alot of different ideas you can organize it and turn out to having something great. One major lesson I learned was to be open and share your thoughts with others. In the midst of other black male and female has not not encouraged me to share my feelings but also to take in what they felt about black lives and to see how their voices came out in their writings. I truly hope that you have spilled your feelings in all your writing. Now that we are all Brother and Sister Authors who are striving to for benefit of change in other and ourselves, I will be looking to read your well put together pieces. Lastly, don't stop your writing just because the program ended , keep going and let your hands write the way your heart feel.
dear future sister authors, i am writing to you today because i think that we dont get the respect we deserve. we live in this world full of doubt and hate. never let anyone tell you that you are not worth fighting for. you are all beautiful, smart, talented, and so much more. never let society bring you down. no matter how hard your life gets, never stop believing in yourself. dont let people tell you what to wear or how to do your hair. dont let them tame you. be free and unique. let your inner self show. we are all beautiful inside and out and dont let anyone tell you different. and if they do, they dont know what beauty is. be free to be yourself, always know that. the haters will hate and the doubters will doubt but only because they are jealous. always be yourself because anyone who tells you different doesn't know what beauty is. change will happen and i just hope you will be apart of it.
Sister Author 10
ReplyDeleteDear Future Sister Authors, If you are reading this, know that this society will not support you. Because we are women, they say we are weak, useless, and a burden. But, they are wrong. We are strong, powerful human beings, and we have to make society acknowledge that. We can make changes, but it will take hard work. We can`t let people try to take control of us, and make the stereotypes and let them sit on us as if we were chairs. We must arise and prove that are natural beauty is worth it. We must build a bridge that our people can walk on, and make it sturdy so that it will never fall down. Don`t be a follower, be a leader. And let the followers soon be the next to lead.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletedear future sister authors,
ReplyDeleteWE LIVE IN A WORLD WITH LOTS OF DOUBT AND HATE. NEVER LET ANYONE TELL YOU THAT YOU ARE NOT WORTH FIGHTING FOR. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, SMART, TALENTED, AND SO MUCH MORE. NEVER LET SOCIETY BRING YOU DOWN.
Dear Sister and Brother,
ReplyDeleteI was just were you are now and I can tell you I was quite nervous. I didn’t know anybody in class and neither did I care too. However I eventually came to see everyone as family. I hope you do too. I urge you to share your writings. I didn’t really want to in the beginning, however once I did, it turned out I was better than I thought. I used to think I couldn’t write poems, but once I tried it turned out I was pretty good. Also, everything is practice. I went through countless drafts before the final product was made. I know I sound like a teacher right now but trust me, it pays off to know this. And just don’t sweat your writings too much. There is no such thing as being the worst so go for it. You should also not be afraid to share your work with other brother and sister authors. I know when I was sharing mine I was concerned about my penmanship and whether it was even good enough to be read by others. Often I found that others liked my writing and had suggestions to further my writing. This is very helpful so I ask that you use everyone to your advantage. I guarantee you this will pay off in the future. It is also important to get yourself comfortable before you start writing. This practice helps generate ideas which allows your writing to flow. This helped me with my writing and I think it’ll help you as well. Lastly but most importantly, have fun with your writing. At first I treated this writing program like it was a school giving me assignments, however, I found myself enjoying my writing rather than looking for a grade. The truth is there is no grade. So write from your heart. Thanks for listening.
BA 16
Sister Author 10
ReplyDeleteDear Future Sister Authors,
I am addressing YOU, and only you because I feel in my heart that we are pushed away and trying to be removed from society. If you are reading this, know that this society will not support you. Because we are women, they say we are weak, useless, and a burden. But, they are wrong. We are strong, powerful human beings, and we have to make society acknowledge that. We can make changes, but it will take hard work. We can`t let people try to take control of us, and make the stereotypes and let them sit on us as if we were chairs. We must arise and prove that are natural beauty is worth it. We must build a bridge that our people can walk on, and make it sturdy so that it will never fall down. People will say we can`t think, so think of your lovely bright ideas. They say we are ugly, so show your beautiful face. We have the power to make things better, stronger and more powerful. Let your beauty show. Be the girl that YOU want to be. Don’t let anybody, ANYBODY, create your identity or tell what and WHO you are. Stop the poverty, the stereotypes, and sexual abuse that is used against us. You are worth more than a million. The only limit is the one that you set for yourself. Dance. Be proud of who you are. Don`t make any regrets. Stand. Write. Speak. Feel free, and make an accurate meaning of freedom that we can use. Beat the odds in everything. Have people inspired by your writings, your creativity, your EVERYTHING. Don`t be a follower, be a leader. And let the followers be the one soon to lead.
Sister Author 10
ReplyDeleteDear Future Sister Authors,
I am addressing YOU, and only you because I feel in my heart that we are pushed away and trying to be removed from society. If you are reading this, know that this society will not support you. Because we are women, they say we are weak, useless, and a burden. But, they are wrong. We are strong, powerful human beings, and we have to make society acknowledge that. We can make changes, but it will take hard work. We can`t let people try to take control of us, and make the stereotypes and let them sit on us as if we were chairs. We must arise and prove that are natural beauty is worth it. We must build a bridge that our people can walk on, and make it sturdy so that it will never fall down. People will say we can`t think, so think of your lovely bright ideas. They say we are ugly, so show your beautiful face. We have the power to make things better, stronger and more powerful. Let your beauty show. Be the girl that YOU want to be. Don’t let anybody, ANYBODY, create your identity or tell what and WHO you are. Stop the poverty, the stereotypes, and sexual abuse that is used against us. You are worth more than a million. The only limit is the one that you set for yourself. Dance. Be proud of who you are. Don`t make any regrets. Stand. Write. Speak. Feel free, and make an accurate meaning of freedom that we can use. Beat the odds in everything. Have people inspired by your writings, your creativity, your EVERYTHING. Don`t be a follower, be a leader. And let the followers be the one soon to lead.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDear Sister Authors,
ReplyDeleteI come to you to tell you that Black Lives Matter; Agree ? I sure do...Being in this program would help you far as getting to know the challenges that Black Americans had to face. Also, you would learn history about our powerful heroes. Our heroes that spoke up without any hesitation or even made a change. Dont get me wrong, It wasn't all smooth but it was worth it. You as a young sister Author will get to write poems, short stories,raw writes, and much more ; according to Black Lives. My advice to you is speak up, put your input in whatever you might think you need to and help each other without judging.
Sincerely,
Sister Author 8
Sister Author #6
ReplyDeleteFuture Brother Sister author
I write to you in a state of urgency. Out here in the streets there are problems that must be addressed. Problems that cant go away with silence. I understand that Instagram and Snapchat are poppin but whats really poppin are your rights. So pop back into reality and stand up! With the powerful social media platform that us youth has today its very easy for trends to happen, so instead of using social media for fun use it to inform the world any way that you can. With this program access to media isn't hard, there is constant inspiration coming in and out of the doors to influence the true protest writer that you are. No matter what form of writing poetry, short stories, etc. Resistance writing is the strongest most important form of writing because of the points it attacks and the people it touches. But what really matters is the person that is writing it, people don`t usually expect youth to speak on such points of importance so when they do they listen. The youth are the voices of the future and will be heard.
sister author 13 Dear future sister’s authors,
ReplyDeleteThis is a good helpful program for y’all .It gives you information that you need to succeeded in life. Listen stay focus and don’t give up. Black Lives Matters is a program to tell you a little or more about our past and what’s going on today. I feel you will think that this program will help you I life and let you go down the right path. I feel that this program will let you succeeded in life. I feel that most young black children should join this program because it will help you understand what’s going on in life and show you what most people deal with on a daily base. I feel that most young children doesn’t understand what’s going on in the world they just hear what people talk about and take it and go mix up their words and tell somebody the wrong story.
Open Letter
ReplyDeleteBrother Author 12
Future Brother and Sister Authors
Living in 2017 is probably like hell for you isn't it? All of these problems: racism, parents, teachers, etc..
You’ve got to deal with the fact that you’re black, which in today’s society, is really unpleasant. In every history textbook that you’ve read you were a slave. Even when we weren’t slaves anymore, we’ve just been entertainers, literally. Every day one of us get shot. And even the positive things that we have are small. 90%of the rich black people you know about are basketball players, football players, dancers, actors, etc. And that’s all we’re known for. We’re just entertainers. YOU’RE BLACK! And trust me, in the back of your head, you hate that (at least I did).
Everything I mentioned in the first paragraph was wrong. We aren’t just entertainers. We aren’t all poor. We weren’t just slaves. Did you know that black people were the first on earth? Did you know that black people were the first to invent mathematics, and science, and reading? That we’ve created things that nobody else in the world have created (ex. the pyramids), even though each pyramid block is about 400,000 pounds? We are much better than we are portrayed. So my overall advice to you is, be black, not the portrayal of black. Be black!
Sister Author 3
ReplyDeleteDear Brother and Sister Authors,
I write to you about what I earned from this 12 day program and hoping that you take the lesson and gain more knowledge about black communities then what you came in the program with. In this program you don't have to write for a good grade. You get to right for the depths of your heart. As a sister I feel as if you should write how you feel but not to try to offend others but to make other aware of the unloving societies of black lives. What I learned from here is that there is nothing wrong with protest. Protest is just a statement or action expressing disapproval to something. Like you are learning, I also learned how to write whatever comes to my mind about a topic. It helps because when you have alot of different ideas you can organize it and turn out to having something great. One major lesson I learned was to be open and share your thoughts with others. In the midst of other black male and female has not not encouraged me to share my feelings but also to take in what they felt about black lives and to see how their voices came out in their writings. I truly hope that you have spilled your feelings in all your writing. Now that we are all Brother and Sister Authors who are striving to for benefit of change in other and ourselves, I will be looking to read your well put together pieces. Lastly, don't stop your writing just because the program ended , keep going and let your hands write the way your heart feel.
Sincerely,
Sister Author 16
dear future sister authors,
ReplyDeletei am writing to you today because i think that we dont get the respect we deserve. we live in this world full of doubt and hate. never let anyone tell you that you are not worth fighting for. you are all beautiful, smart, talented, and so much more. never let society bring you down. no matter how hard your life gets, never stop believing in yourself. dont let people tell you what to wear or how to do your hair. dont let them tame you. be free and unique. let your inner self show. we are all beautiful inside and out and dont let anyone tell you different. and if they do, they dont know what beauty is. be free to be yourself, always know that. the haters will hate and the doubters will doubt but only because they are jealous. always be yourself because anyone who tells you different doesn't know what beauty is. change will happen and i just hope you will be apart of it.