Discovering My Activism

When I was young I never noticed my skin color or my culture. I had not realized that my mother had straight, blond hair where I wore frizzy, brown curls. I had not realized that other kids spoke Spanish to me on the playground where I only knew my ‘uno de diez.’ It may seem that I was a very closed off child, when really I had been immersed with different cultures and different languages since I was born. My neighborhood consisted of all different types of cultures, traditions, and colors. The problem was that I had never realized that those things; our cultures, traditions, languages, colors, etc. made us different. As kids we don’t notice those things, but they do become noticeable when we aren’t kids anymore. A few months ago, during Black History Month, I was invited to help employees at the California Department of Education put on a show that focused on African-Americans who have made a significant change in the world. This show discussed the contributions of African-Americans, such as Shirley Chisholm who was the first African American woman elected to the United States Congress, to Tupac Shakur who was a successful African-American rapper, record producer, and actor. For this production my creative input was put into the closing piece of the show. I had written a spoken word piece that discussed our differences; such as religion, culture, and our color.

Writing this piece, Colors Categorized, forced a realization that I discovered about myself; that I am an activist. By saying words that create conversation about race, that give a significant voice to people who are not always heard I have become an activist. Since then the topics discussed in my spoken word greatly focus on social issues today. I realized that how I grew up transparently became who I wanted to be and would guide my pen throughout high school. Since the reflection I wrote to myself back in February I know that wherever or whatever I am in life I want to be a voice. I want to always be part of something that matters much more than myself. This is why I hope that I will be able to graduate college with a degree in International Studies. The world holds so many voices that don’t have sound.

#mylife