We Are All Human

Luna A. & Devon F. – 9th Grade – Santa Barbara Middle High School

We all say we want peace

But what does that mean?

Peace for some and not all

How can that be?

We're all told that this is the land of freedom, but is it really?

In a world with so much prejudice, anger and rage

What can actually be called peace

When people are still afraid?

We are all human

With our own stories, struggles, and hopes

Stories that shouldn't be lost outside in the world

Covered up by people who don't understand

Hopes that shouldn't be limited

To fit you into the cramped box they call the social norm

Struggles that should be recognized for what they are

And what they mean to whoever has to carry their weight

We are all human

We look at each other and see different

Which our society, our community

Only views as bad

Our beliefs cloud our brains of what's really true

A murky smoke that covers our eyes and clogs our ears

People stop caring

Stop feeling

Stop believing that we can be united

Because they feel threatened by

What they can't understand

But we are all human

And when people throw sticks and stones

Trying to cut us down with their words of hate

We hold on

We get up

We raise our fists and fight back the best way we can

In the face of such adversity

With kindness

With support

With knowledge that we can reach a better future

If we can finally be heard

Because we are all human

And phrases like

"He acts strange”

"They're religious"

"They're not religious"

"She likes girls"

"He likes boys"

"They went to college"

"They didn't go to college"

"He's a girl"

"She's a boy"

"Our skin colors' not the same"

Are embedded in our minds

Keeping us stuck in place

Unable to progress

Unable to move forward

Unable to change

We are all human

And we need to remember

The grass will keep growing

The flowers will keep blooming

The bees will keep buzzing

And we will continue to move backwards if we don't have a voice

So we have to keep speaking

Keep reaching out a hand to those who feel broken

And pull them back up on their feet

We have to keep living and breathing and shining

For those whose colors have been washed away

We have to say that we will not rest

Until a new future is realized

Somewhere safe

Somewhere equal

Somewhere kind

Voices of Today, Visions of Tomorrow:

A Future Where We Belong

Monica M. – 9th Grade – Dos Pueblos High School

Today we see the news and watch what is happening in our communities and even in our homes. What is happening is cruel and inhumane, and it is hurting families like mine who are not originally from here. That is why people protest and speak up today, hoping tomorrow will be better. We hope to see change, unity, and justice for all, something we often talk about on the surface but rarely try to fix.

Too often people stay silent because they think, "It's not happening to me." But it does affect you. It affects your cousin who wakes up with fear, not knowing what might happen to their family. It affects the Mexican friend at school who came to the United States as a child hoping for a better life. It affects the neighbor next door who has lived there for years but could be taken away in the night while their children sleep.

And on top of that, many experience discrimination, racism, and deportation. Some are treated like animals, pushed and harassed into trucks and planes while their families watch helplessly. In a world of 8.3 billion people, too many stay silent while innocent lives are torn apart. People come here believing this country can offer something better

for their children. Some run from violence, some from poverty, and some from danger they could not escape from. They come believing in a future of opportunity and hope.

Instead, many work themselves day and night farming, picking crops to feed people who may dismiss them for their labor. They believed this was the land of the free, yet many constantly worry about bills, taxes, and rising gas prices. Every morning students across America say the Pledge of Allegiance. We promise justice for all and say we trust in God, yet justice is what many do not see. There is talk about freedom and equality, but not enough action to fulfill those promises.

So we must ask ourselves difficult questions. When did we forget our rights and voices? When did we stop recognizing the difference between right and wrong? Should someone be treated differently because they are brown? Should a person's life matter less because of their skin color? When did we decide some people deserve less respect than others?

I was born in California, yet people still look at me as if I do not belong. Even something simple, like asking where the bathroom is, can be met with judgment or assumptions. Discrimination and stereotypes can follow you even when this is the only home you have ever known.

The voices of today must speak loudly so the children of tomorrow can grow up without fear. We must work for change not only for ourselves but for the generations that come after us.

The voices of today must rise, not in anger but in courage, because the world we shape now will become the future our children inherit. Tomorrow's justice matters just as much as today's.