No Longer Silent

The following poems, “The Unconquerable Soul” and “The Real Thing,” were written by Felicia Martin, a 14-year-old eighth-grader at Marlborough School.

‘The Unconquerable Soul’

Every day in subtle or sometimes sizable ways, I am being told by this country that I am inferior.

As I walk down the block, it might be the sudden shift of purses to the opposite direction of the sidewalk.

It might be the encounter at the financial aid office asking, “Well, Ms. Martin, how exactly do you plan to attend college?

You don’t play sports and you’re not involved in music, drama or dance.”

Maybe it’s a government telling me to forget about a young black girl, whose breath was blown out of her body for a $1.79 bottle of orange juice. And her killer walked free, although a man will spend 30 days for the abuse of a dog.

It might be Simi Valley telling me to turn my cheek, as four white officers beat one black man almost to death for driving over the speed limit intoxicated.

These incidents have told me that I am less than you. It hurts me and it angers me. I’ve watched to you trying to break my spirit and with some you have been successful. I’m tired, Mr. President, of the hypocrisy and constant greed.

Until now I have lived in silence. Today the silence was broken by the sounds of sirens trying to stop fires lit by frustration that fills my community. Although the fires are not the answer, let them be a symbol: no No more.

I am black, not an appliance you can turn off or on. I am not a piece of property bought or sold. I demand the equal opportunities and freedom that have been promised for so long.

I am a black human being with an unconquerable soul.

--In dedication to the L.A. Riots

‘The Real Thing’ I am a romantic, I am an erotic I am everything you could wish for. I am sensual and sensitive. I am a child at heart with an agenda to be an adult. I am a friend and I am a rebel. I am everything and every person you could want in your dreams. I am an African woman a beauty to say the least. I’m the color of the richest coffee the eyes of the darkest night with the soul of a survivor. I am the original not a copy like the others. I had the curls before the others wanted it. I had the skin before the others waited in the sun. I had knowledge before the rest of the world. I love those not strong enough to love me back. I have the wisdom to know right from wrong. I am a woman full of courage and pride. I am here to put an end to the suffering and your cry.