Losing Hope by Faith Smith

Consider her eyes and you will see the lines that divide humane society

Stare into her soul and you will reach the pain obtains young girls like me

For she is afraid because her future seemed so bright

Now she realizes that her life is in the hands of the undivine

Consider her spirit and you will feel the broken glass of uncompromising hope

Dance around her home and it will reveal that her joy has become no more

Search for her heart and find it buried in the dirt of the oppressor’s hatred

Jump into her world and you’ll see that she is labeled nothing but basic

Consider her love, for she was once a butterfly, soaring above all odds in the sky

Run around her track, and you’ll figure out everything was left at just that

Sit in her comfort and it will prove that she is lonely and abused and misused

Rest in her mind and insane thoughts and crimes will spill from the brain that doesn't lie

Consider her eyes, and you will see the lines that divide the humane society

Consider her spirit, and you will feel the broken glass of uncompromising hope

Consider her love, for she was once a butterfly soaring above all odds in the sky

Extend out your arms, wrap her up, and dry her eyes

BLOOD. by Azúcar Mind

Fight, bleed, heal, and repeat.  A process which happens to everyone. Whether it happens every day, month, year, decade, maybe a century. Some are known, some are silenced, and some are trying to be silenced, but whatever the struggle, we won’t live in jeopardy any longer. We recover to fight, bleed, heal, and repeat again. It is what us feminists do. We live for this stuff. So we may never be sexually harassed, talked down to, or be told we are inferior. With all our hope, we are stronger than numbers. We are mightier than any obstacle thrown in our faces. With all the dedication, we will exceed. We don’t have breaks. No sleep. And as we get older, the harder we sweat attempting to live in comfort. There is no need to prove we are equal anymore, we have done that for years. It is time that we demand for ALL of our natural given rights and fair treatment. Even when we are denied access to these things, we will still fight, bleed, heal, and repeat. Until our minds are no more. Until our lungs breathe no more. Until our blood bleeds no more. We will not give in and lose.

Faces by Makayla Booker

Our community, the black community that is,

has had a lot of problems that some people often miss.

We've lost so much of the stability that we need as a community,

but we've somehow gotten use to it, like an immunity.

The stability that we lost was due to our oppressors, controversy, social media, and loneliness.

But nothing will change unless we're all in this.

Some people refuse to see the change that needs to come,

and by the time they realize the need to change, the damage will already be done.

I look around and see the faces of my people,

the faces of my past.

Saying "I have a dream,"

hoping that we can make that dream last.

I see the struggle from which my people went through.

I hear the songs which they sung.

I see the tribes from which my brothers and sisters came from.

I look into the trees and see where they hung.

"Die Nigger Die" I heard in the streets from the faces of our oppressors, as they hung my sister.

Now I hear the jury say "Not guilty" looking at the cop's body camera.

Dr. King was able to write a letter from a Birmingham jail,

oh, how the mighty had fell.

At least he was trying to stand up for himself and fight for what he believed in,

where I saw my brothers going to jail for the color of their skin.

Today, some of these brothers  think they slick.

They think that they can go around getting themselves into sticky situations thinking that it won't stick.

I look around and see the faces of my people,

the faces of my past.

Saying "I have a dream,"  

hoping we can make that dream last.

You hear a lot of people spewing words that they claim to teach,

but how many people do you see actually practicing what they preach.

I see my brothers and sisters walking in the streets, on TV screaming “BLACK LIVES MATTER.”

So, now I'm sitting here trying to determine which one's sadder.

Is it the fact that i see this on the tv but people refuse to hear their pleas for what they seem to fight for.

Or the fact that in the middle of the night i see those same people murdering their own kind over stupid turf wars,

when you and I both know that they didn't do not a dang thing to be in the gang the claim to be in.

But got the nerve to be throwing up signs saying “Vice Lords” or “GDN”.

I look around and see the faces of my people,

the faces of my past.

Saying "I have a dream,"

Hoping that we can make that dream last.

Social media sure has had its perks and has been fun.

Huh? Like Malcolm Gladwell said “Viva la revoución.”

But what did we have to loose to get their?

Girls shaking their butts like they just don't give care?

I go on social media and see young girls 'thotting' around,

and young boys walking around with their pants dragging on the ground.

They can't even talk about where they lived and what they lived for,

because it was implied that communications door was closing by Thoreau.  

In the words of Drake “Trigger fingers turn into Twitter fingers.”

Bodies keep dropping while the smell of blood lingers,

and the cops who are trying to help are dropping to,

because people have a deep seeded hatred for them because of what they see on the news.

I look around and see the faces of my people,

the faces of my past,

Saying "I have a dream,"

hoping that we can make that dream last.

Scott Brown said, in reference to our world today, that “we've lost our right to lose touch.”

However I think the contrary of said such,

Because I live in a world today where the average black child won't know who their father is.

Do you think that our ancestors wanted this?

For a child to grow up not knowing what it's like to have a home,

where a child has to grow up alone.

Where they are forever on the fence

because “The silence at home, however, was finally more than a literal silence.” (Aria Richard Rodriguez)

Where parents could at least try to ease the pain that their child is going through,

where a child just wants a “Home at Last” like Dinaw Mengestu.

Kids are wishing upon stars when the stars are out,

wishing that they can get back the home they lost like Richard Rodriguez in Aria.

What happened to health and happiness

Because these kids are forever alone and it's sickening

I look around and see the faces of my people,

The faces of my past.

Saying "I have a dream,”

Hoping that we can make that dream last.

What can we do to get the stability that we need?

The stability that no one has paid heed?

I can't force people to see the need to change,

Because if I try they'll keep going down the same lane.

And what people fail to realize is that people won't change until they think so,

but until that time comes, they just going with the same flow.

However, without the change we need to overcome these voices, our past becomes a stutter.

Repeat after repeat like a song on replay.

Looking at my brother pleading,

"I can't breathe" he tried to say.

I look around and see the faces of MY people,

The faces of MY past.

Saying "I have a dream.”

Do you think that WE made that dream last?

The Pit of Darkness by Daishana Milton

The pit of darkness there is nothing to see,

 but all your flaws. 

Trapped in a hole that you continue to fall... 

In seeing all the bad and hurt ...

Your inner thoughts doubt you and  your worth  

telling you you're not good enough to have what you have  

a continuous battle on if life is worth it...

knowing your soul is hurting  and your heart is broken

that's all you see in the pit of darkness

feeling like you're in the water drowning and can't get up

you're hyperventilating, because the area is too small,

but when you realize the hole is two feet tall

you still can't get you, because you feel you deserve the fall

you try to change, but your mind still mocks you... 

You try to pull yourself out, yet you grab a rock,

 and it takes you deeper until you sink.

I am Invisible, too by Tamar Trice

During my sophomore year of high school in my AP Literature and Composition class we
were presented with a controversial book that had been banned in many other high schools. After reading the book it became very apparent why the book had been banned in some schools; it explored many ideas that had the ability to open anyone’s eyes to the racial profiling and alienation, judgments and stereotypes that exists in our world today. The book I was presented with was Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, a book that highlights the struggles of being black in our society. The book only widened my view on today’s society seeing as though I had already experienced some of these racial profiling and stereotyping myself.
On one occasion, as my family and I finished our food at IHOP, my mom paid the bill and
we left the building among a few other people. As we reached the car the manager of

IHOP runs up behind us saying to my mother, “You did not pay for your family's meal.”
With great annoyance, my mother responds by saying, “I did pay, do you need to see my
receipt.” At this moment, I could see the people that walked out with us pulling out of the
parking lot without being harassed by a manager and I could not help but notice their skin color. They were white just like the manager. The manager responds with an attitude, “It would be greatly appreciated.” My mom pulls out the receipt and looks the manager in her eyes with great disappointment. The manager takes the receipt looks at it and sees that my mother had indeed paid for our meal, and without apologizing she hands my mom her receipt and she walks back into IHOP. We all pile into the car and this is the topic of conversation all through our car ride home. Many people in our society today have the tendency to act before thinking or jump to random assumptions when it comes to races that have many stereotypes surrounding them. The one-dimensional thinking of the manger only allowed her to perceive what many other people in our society perceive. She chose to approach a black family instead of the white family that left at the same time we did, her thinking was because they are black they most likely did not pay for their meal. Who could blame her she was just acting on the racial stereotypes and judgments that many others over the centuries have created around black people. I found it troubling to actually experience one of the topics that Ralph Ellison discusses in the book in that black people are invisible because people choose to already have judgments and expectations of us. We have started using these judgments and expectations on ourselves deteriorating our confidence as people of color. In our weekly in class discussions of the book one of my peers brings up the portion of the book in which Invisible Man goes into a convenience store and he finds a cream for black people to lighten up their skin. My fellow peer wondered why someone
would even want to do that to their skin. However, when I read that portion of book I thought about how so many people today think that having a lighter skin tone makes you superior. I was taken back to the time I’d seen so many posts on Facebook that said, “Light skins are winning” or “Light skins are better” statements that would no doubt make anyone who wasn’t a light skinned feel insecure in their own skin. We already deal with some white people believing that they are superior, however this was black on black racial profiling.

Invisible man not only touched on the insecurities black people have thrust upon them
based on their feeling of dominance he also explores the idea that stereotypically white people are pure and for America to remain pure it should be dominated by whites with blacks in the shadows. This is symbolized in when the narrator gets a job at that paint factory that only makes pure white paint in which a black substance is used to create the perfect pure white. Our society has been based for many centuries on some of the whites relying on others to raise their success and wealth. This was never more evident than through the history of slavery; European settlers relied solely on slaves to produce their wealth. After centuries, have passed one might think that this kind of behavior would not exist in our society. On the other hand, I’ve noticed that some whites are still dependent on black people along with other minorities. We continuously add money into their pockets when we purchase products from their prosperous businesses, which shows their dependence on us. Ralph Ellison clears up all the back handed manipulation and simply states their need for us, to be successful.

Some whites have chosen to use their power to make blacks feel inferior, hence adding to
the expectations of whites dominating over the black community making them more successful and powerful. I remember sitting in my sociology class discussing the different acts of police brutality that have recently plagued our society and familiar names such as Sandra Bland, Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, and Laquan McDonald. These names were common to hear in our school halls in classrooms, one assignment we had was to read the article that told Laquan McDonald’s story. I remember thinking after all of these back to back instances, "aren’t the police supposed to be here to protect us?" I was already aware of the police officers not following protocol when making an arrest and apparently in these different cases different officers have different definitions of resisting arrest when it comes to black people. Some police officers, being white of course, had not been following the correct procedures when making an arrest, because they were dealing with black people it appears that they already had predetermined stereotypes and judgments associated with us. They see a black male or female and perceive that they are committing a crime, as in the case of Laquan McDonald who was simply walking down the street, later shot and killed while holding his hands up. These police officers failed to see that blacks are not all the same, some choose to be involved with crimes while others simply chose a humane lifestyle, but because we are all black as Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man puts it we are invisible. Blacks are constantly placed in one group in which, so many assumptions are made
and people make judgments on an entire race.

I am growing up, in a world that had predetermined stereotypes, a time when a colored
person is more invisible than ever in the light of all the police brutalities that surfaced, I was
surrounded by the judgments that couldn’t be escaped. I could visually see the realities of the book and I understood the way our world worked. Therefore, Invisible Man took a form on me similar to the narrator, I was exposed to many eye-opening experiences that showed me that I, as an African American, would be invisible myself.

Me or You by Kaylia Walker

It is not that I am worried because your words cannot hurt me, 

but how could you put me down when I have come so far? 

Is it that you are scared that I will blossom into a woman, who knows my worth? 

Is it that you are afraid that I could do "a man's job," too?

Or is it because I will probably be better at it than you? 

Do you shame me because of my gender?

Or is it because I am just as smart as you? 

Who are you trying to convince that I am worthless?

Me or you?

My Uncle Barf by Azúcar Mind

Holidays are coming, meaning it's time to prepare not just for food, but for the ignorant parasites I call relatives. My sisters and I take turns in the bathroom trying to make ourselves presentable for our guests. You call them family, I call them “ scientific experiments that have failed.” However, there is only one person this Thanksgiving I can not handle. In fact, I cannot handle him at any family get-together. I call him Uncle Barf, the nick name is pretty self-explanatory. He loves to rant about his ex-girlfriends and how hideous they were. Once he called his ex-girlfriend a, “horse face with gigantic buck teeth…” I was a bit confused if he was describing her or himself. But, he closed it with a remark saying, “but she had a banging body. If you know what I mean. Hahaha [I’m an idiot] ha!”  I replied, “Wow, what a nice thing to say. Too bad she didn’t get to see what a great guy you are. Ever. Ha haha[ you’re an idiot!] ha!” Of course I was laughing all hysterical.  He also describes his disgusting fantasies about women and what women have done to him. Explains why he voted for Trump, because he too likes to grab young “meow!” If I had a penny for every time he talked about his ex’s, I’d have enough money to buy a tenth ring for hell. He has entitled himself a religious man, at least that's what he tells my Grandma, who is nearly deaf. Poor old Catholic, not him, my Grandma. Must suck to give birth to the spawn of Satan. My Uncle Barf has been married twice to two women. Just to highlight, “WOMEN.” It is a miracle anyone would marry him. Then they realized what they have done, and divorced him.

He is like the remote control and I am the T.V. He wants to control my views, my style, my sense of living, so I may be more ladylike to him. He wants to brainwash my mind to see what he wants me to be. That coincidentally is probably how he got those women to marry him. I am completely ashamed to even share similar DNA. Clearly something went wrong with his chromosomes, maybe he has I-have-issues-syndrome. You guys thought who ever is related to Trump had it bad. Actually, scratch that they are equally as bad. Gosh dang it, I hope my Grandma’s deafness is contagious. I could really go deaf about now, it SOUNDS nice for the moment.

         

P.S. My apologies to the deaf.  

Listen to my Words by Makayla Booker

You will listen to my words.

You will not merely hear a few verses and deem them credible.

You will not just hear a few words that rhyme and deem it incredible.

You will not get hypnotized by my smooth words that I speak.

You will not hear my powerful words and perceive them as weak.

You will not make my heart warming words of a calm serenity callous.

You will not determine the quality of what I speak by who talks the fastest.

You will not see me pumping my first in the middle of a crowd trying to get recognized.

You will not see me in a haze of Mary Jane, or crystal, thinking I can fly.

You will not see me as another voice that's lost in the echo.

You will not make me out to be someone that doesn't know.

You will not make me into someone who just puts on a show.

You will not say “She only writes about the struggle but doesn't live it.”

You will not assume what size I will fit.

You will not determine the value of my words by what you see?

You will not look at me and just see a 15 year-old black girl because that isn’t all there is to me.

You will not see me and see a girl from the ghetto.

You will not see me as being under you as low.

You will not make a mockery out of my name.

You will not belittle me so that you can earn you 15 minutes of fame.

You will not brush off what I say because you don’t want to hear the truth.

You will not silence me and cut me down to my roots.

You will listen to my words, for I have something to say.

You will listen to my words, even if I need to have it engraved where my cold body lay.

Nasty America by Faith Smith

On November 9^th, 2016, the fate and hopes of the United States changed as we knew it. Donald Trump, the man that discredited this entire country and slandered the culture of minorities, will be sworn in to the office to become the President of the United States on January 20^th, 2017. To say I’m not surprised is an understatement. I had this feeling that no matter how hard Hillary Clinton tried to advocate to become our President, she would not be able to step foot in the White House because she is a woman. No man wants a woman to have that type of power, because that means she is in a power position traditionally held by men. In my opinion, I feel as though Donald Trump was voted for president for many reasons. For one, all those racist individuals who have been “hiding” for the last eight years since Barack Obama has been in office has finally came out and have been more open with their racism because Donald Trump has displayed his feelings toward the minority community without any repercussions, they feel it is alright to be open with their negative feelings towards us. Wisconsin has not been voting as a Republican state for over thirty years, and as soon as Donald Trump runs for president, it all of a sudden changes. That says a lot. It says to me that this country has not changed much, and it will become even worse than it was before if we do not do something about it. I also think they voted in Donald Trump because if he became president, then his views on building a wall to keep out all the immigrants and the comments that have been made would change. I do still have a little hope for what is to come soon, but I don’t think that it was the best choice to vote someone like Trump in office. His only plan is to build a wall. What about education? What about senior citizens? What about the violence and police brutality? He doesn’t have any of this mapped out, based on what he has said in the media and at debates.

            If I had it my way and I became president, I would make it known what my plans are from the very beginning. No, I would not even think to build a wall because this is America, the land of the free, and if that title has any meaning to it, why make people leave? I would focus mostly on education, because that is what sets up the future for this younger generation. I would have money set aside to fund schools, and I would make it so there are field trips to give students the outside world experience as far as careers, colleges, a future lifestyle, etc. goes. I would increase social security and increase taxes on the rich, because the elders that are disabled from working need some type of income. Lowering that amount would hurt them more than help.Taxing the rich will make it so that there will not be too much taxes to take away from the middle class and poor. The goal is equity not fairness.

Contributors

Priscila Acevedo: Writing is a way of expressing thoughts, feelings, and ideas. It’s art and it has the power to do good as well as bad. It can come naturally to anybody. I don’t really see myself as a writer, but I can express myself entirely as well as get my point across. I consider myself a feminist because the topic is very interesting to me. The fact that we still deal with sexism, and also being able to express yourself is contradicting but powerful in the sense that you’re not alone or will ever be alone in this generation as a woman because other girls, as well as males, fight for and with you, much like this group. It makes me feel like I’m somebody and that there is hope that woman can be treated with full respect. Woman are strong, and strong woman are indestructible.

Mariah Fields: I consider myself to be a feminist, because I believe women should have the exact same and equal rights to men. It has been like this for years; at one point in time we couldn't get a job ,or vote. There should not be a difference in our opportunities because, a woman can do as much as a man or even more . We are categorized as not worthy enough just because we are FEMALES. We can't control who we are, but we can make a change.

Espi Flores: Awakening to the circular barbed wire fence. Capacity of one. Every movement I made came at a cost. Not able to move the way I wanted, because I was told not move from sexist who did not believe I was able of doing much. Just stay put and listen to “The Man." I was denied to be a mascot, team captain, my father’s daughter because of my gender, my retaliation to listen to what another guy has to say about what a woman should say or do for them, and my strong belief that women are equal and capable of doing anything they set their mind to. When I found the label for my belief, I quickly embraced it; Feminism. -Azúcar Mind

Gabrielle Gousman: I am an activist because I believe everyone deserves to be treated equally-no matter their gender or race, body type or sexuality. I am an activist because I speak up against injustice, against those who do not feel that everyone deserves to be treated equally. I am an activist because I stand up for what is right. And I will not bite my tongue against anyone who opposes.

Ricardo Elias Hernandez: I consider myself a feminist because we need to fill the gap in gender inequality. Feminist are the future of advancement in the stance of women. For centuries, women have always dealt with being seen as inferior to the male counterpart, in the workplace and society. As a male, I am not okay knowing that I am able to contribute the same amount in the workforce, yet women are making 79 cents to my dollar. A human’s sex organ does not and should not determine our level of success, an important note that America and the rest of the world needs to understand. Let us use our voice to raise awareness and fill in the gap of gender and all inequality together. Thanks!

Laquita Parker: I am a strong young lady who has been competing with her twin since birth. However, I do not believe that I should be competing with the standards of society. I struggle with concealing my emotions when I should not have to, because society is like a pack of wolves and whimpering is seen as weakness. How can being human be so wrong. I am only perfectly imperfect and that’s the way I like it.

Carl Smith: I do not consider myself an activist/ I find myself passionate about what’s happening/ Being active isn’t the noun it is being an advocate/ So I am an active advocate/ When there is a wall of shame and my community has its back to it/ who has my people’s back?/ These are spots we have to fill whether you feel compelled to leave and never comeback or feel the feeling of failed  children/ feel the feeling of the failed republic/ Your demographic sucked into the static looking for something/ and you know what it is/ It is a hero and no I’m no super negro here to liberate the masses with light beams and lasers/ Or light saber/  but with negotiation, negating the capitalistic Satan, rebuilding strength in our communication, educating these little faces into bright smiles of liberation/ I am no activist/ just a citizen trying to put a plan of action in.

Faith Smith: For hundreds of years, women have been treated as though they don’t even amount to a human being when it comes to being compared to a man. As a young lady in this millennial generation, I find it very estranged to refer to women as being less than what they amount to. In all actuality, if we want to consider this, a woman gives birth to children which means they gave birth to mankind. If women wanted to go on a sex strike, which has been done before, we could stop population. So, why am I a feminist? A woman’s voice in this society must be heard for change to be made. If one stands up, we can persuade all to stand up and fight for our equality and value. It’s time for change, and as an advocate for women, I will be involved in making that change.

Armaan Sultan: Hi, to whomever is reading this, I am Armaan but I'll call myself the R-man for this. I consider myself a feminist because despite the common misconceptions of the alleged presence of misandry within the feminist I understand the importance of and strongly advocate equality between genders, neither is above the other. That being said, as it is today women everywhere are discriminated against or otherwise mistreated because of something they cannot control- their gender, and it's been happening for A WHILE. So until men and women are accepted as equals I will continue to be a feminist. Good day

Tamar Trice:  In my history class, each chapter in our book discusses the role of women in our society and although it seemed their role was progressing it is still being limited. When you look up the definition of a women on google one of the listed definitions was, "a female paid to clean someone's house and carry out general domestic duties." A common stereotype developed in colonial times, and as a young woman that is not the way I want to be defined. I found it even more disturbing to look up the definition of men and one of the listings was, "a group or person in a position of authority over others, such as a corporate employer or the police...white people collectively regarded as the controlling group in society." Men are stilled viewed as superior and women are still seen as inferior to a male. Women are still making less than a male doing the same job as a woman, and of these minorities make the least. As a black young woman, it is only right for me to use my voice as a feminist and activist.

Kaylia Walker: I am a strong African American female.I grew up in a household with a mother who provided and did all she could for her children. I have never seen men as superior to me because I know I am just as worthy as him. Women are looked down upon because of our gender, but nobody pays attention to the things we've accomplished. Being a female has automatically put us on a lower level then males we are often told that we can't do what males do or that "this is a mans job," we have taken so much in which seems like a punishment for our gender but we are better then we are given credit for.

Monyia White: I am an advocate for the nasty mind,/ and in some ways an activist only because the way a woman lives is immaculate, persuasive, and crafty with anything they touch./ Innovative/ and since time has progressed, so have I and I can't deny the fact that my thoughts have been held back./ I am an activist./Although, I try hard not to attract attention. 

Ms. Nicholson: I learn something new from these genius humans everyday. I just wanted to give them a platform so that you can, too.  

Who We Are

Welcome to the Nasty Woman Newsletter. We are a group of students in Gary, Indiana who promote activism in every form. Our goal is to be leaders of our community, sharers of our original thoughts, and advocates for what we believe is right. We look forward to starting a dialogue about these important issues and working together toward social change. The pieces posted on this blog are the unedited opinions of the student contributors and are not associated with any school or any other organization.