Are you able
to create a situation of freedom
when you see
the depressing clouds of inferiority
begin to form
in her little mental sky?
Tags: blackoutpoem Martin Luther King Jr Middle School PoemWe welcome new members. Call, text, or email, and we will sign you up. +1 917-612-3006 allisonpr@gmail.com
Are you able
to create a situation of freedom
when you see
the depressing clouds of inferiority
begin to form
in her little mental sky?
This is a youth-powered social network and multimedia publishing platform that was started in 2003 by a group of teachers from local sites of the National Writing Project.
We merged several earlier blogging projects. We have found that there are many advantages to bringing students together in one site that lives beyond any particular class. It’s easier for individual students to read and write about their own passions, to connect with other students, comment on each other’s work, and create multimedia posts for each other. Further, it’s been exciting for us to pool our knowledge about curriculum, connected learning, and digital literacies.
There are over 10,000 posts and over 17,000 comments by young people on the site on topics as diverse as the American Dream, Shakespeare, and sports as well as original poems and stories.
Youth Voices is a platform for youth to write about their interests, both in school and outside of school: what they are reading, what their hobbies or future careers might be, what they enjoy in their spare time. Like all of us, students follow our national leadership and form opinions. They are also welcome to write about those topics as well.
Youth Voices is fully non-partisan and welcomes youth of all types, from all regions, and with all viewpoints. Educators support youth in writing and thoughtfully responding to each other through the use of commenting guides, using tags to show common interests, playlists to support self-guided inquiry; opinions expressed by writers are their own.
If being part of such a community makes sense to you, we invite you to join us. We welcome all youth and any teacher interested in having students publish online and participate in the give and take of a social network like Youth Voices.
Youth Voices is an open publishing platform for youth. The site is organized by teachers with support from the National Writing Project. Opinions expressed by writers are their own.
This poem is so short yet so touching. The use of vocabulary and imagery made it feel relatable but also professional. I would love to see what other poems you have.
Coralie, your poem was so touching. You painted a picture and internalized it for every human being. It takes serious courage to write poetry and I am very impressed. I could feel the words you were speaking and was able to tell there was a story behind them. Keep up the great work.
-Anna Drossos
Coralie,
I was really moved by your poem. I loved how each word painted the picture of the storm, but I truly connected with your message. Sometimes we all get so caught up in our own heads and we feel this overwhelming sense of inferiority. It can depress us and cloud our judgement. But our only hope is to get out of our head and believe that we are free to be ourselves. Our best has to be enough for us and you, Coralie, inspired me to remember that.
You are a fantastic poet and I really am looking forward to reading more of your work.
Beautiful