by Nomaan Imafidon Godwin, 8a

We claim to be diverse but are we really?
Are we really as accepting as we think
or do we judge and label people by sight?
Maybe we are the problem
The equation that can’t be solved and the people others learned to dodge.

We have learnt to abide by society’s rules
But maybe we can unlearn that.
Maybe we can stand up and not act like fools.
Unknowing and unknown.
To stand by and watch as humanity crumbles
Doesn’t that make us the perpetrators of our own story?
Of our own world?

Even before birth we begin to judge
To label human beings as black, white, boy or girl.
We crush them and fit them into this little box that fulfills our standards.
But why does it matter?
Why do girls get a pink room and boys get a blue one?
Why do white people get to live and blacks „be the one to fear from“?
It’s just a gender!
It’s just a color!

We come into this world as innocent as chicks,
The weight of the world not yet weighing on our chests.
Enjoying the simplicity of living, kisses and maybe
Just being.
So why do we draw a line?
Why do we start to decline our own happiness?
Let’s love and not shove!
Let’s be appreciating and forgiving!
After all, are we not all just trying to keep living?

You know the little box we talked about before
And the one we shouldn’t be using anymore?
Well, let’s talk about it some more!
Let’s talk about the pain that comes with this box
Because once you step even a foot out, you’re burned by the flames.
Flames of the lighters humanity holds
And before you know it, you get a name.
Stupid, depressed, aggressive, slutty, ugly or for us women
Hysteric.
Not only when we speak our minds but when we step out of that box
We are described as hysteric.
Make it make sense.

So I’m here today to remind you that you matter.
That we together as people can make our world beautiful.
Once we crush the norms and tear every last part of that box!
Once we learn to love and be paradox.
So if you can, steady yourself for the riptide of life because
Not everyone makes it back to the shore.