Martin Luther King
will go down
in
history
A great American
whose
hope
as a
Negro
is
of segregation
on a lonely island
Negro
American
Society
in
a
condition
of
rights
liberty
and happiness
is
America
In this assignment, we were asked to cross out words on a document and let the remaining words create a poem. For my poem, I crossed off most of the words from Martin Luther King’s “I HAVE A DREAM” speech, but I left, what I thought, were the most meaningful words. I enjoyed this assignment because it was a different way of writing poetry. When I read this poem, it makes me realize what Martin Luther King has done for the world and how poetry can make this message powerful. When other people read this poem, I hope that they can feel the same way.
 – Blackout Poem){kind=link}
Dear Julian Currier,
My class did something like this as well and I also enjoyed it because as you said it’s a different way of writing and taking words from a poem and changing and making it your own I believe it’s really amazing. Your poem sends an important message to the community because it make people look at something in a new light. To me the main message is making a very powerful speech into a very powerful poem and that was a very great idea.
Thank you for your poem I had a really nice time reading and hope you respond because I would like to have a conversation.
Sincerely, kalani limbrick 9th grader of life academy Oakland
Hi Kalani! Thank you for reading and commenting on my poem. You mentioned that your class did something similar. Did you post that on Youth Voices? Thank you for all of the compliments! I would love to see some of your work.
– Julian | 8th Grade | King Middle School
Dear Julian,
I like how you used a speech from an activist like MLK JR. and use the I HAVE A DREAM speech to transform it into a poem that is based on the speech by using some key words and show a message to people around the society and community. You should improve more so that when you do your own poetry and speeches, you can use your skills as a thinker and a poet to have a very inspiring piece of writing to remember. Thank you for your time and have a great day!
Edwin M.
Hi Edwin! Thank you for taking time to read and comment on my post. I really appreciate your feedback and I will definitely listen to it. Again, thank you for reading and responding to my poem. I hope I can see some of your work.
– Julian | 8th Grade | King Middle School