Change,

The act of making or becoming different,

 

We live in a world where hashtags are our new protest,

We live in a world where somehow the amount of pigment in your skin suddenly determines whether or not you graduate high school.

We live in a world where thinking outside of the box; is having a disability.

We live in a world where love is an overdramatic allusion,

We live in a world where we treat people the way we should be treating ourselves.

We live in a world where that Nike *swosh* means more than your GPA.

We live in a world with so many body expectations you spend more time on stuffing the blanks then you spend time with your family.

We live in a world where it’s easier to record the fight happening right in front of you than it is to report cyberbullying happening right in front you.

We live in a world where if you believe in change, that’s wishful thinking.

You either change this world or you watch it change you.

You either beat the odds or let the odds beat you.

 

Tony Robinson,

Unarmed,

19-year-old male,

Fatally shot by a Madison Police Officer.

 

When you see that headline scrolling through your feed,

When you see it on the news,

When you drive by 1125 Willy St.,

 

Daniel Harris,

Unarmed and deaf,

29-year-old male,

Killed by a North Carolina state trooper.

 

When you see that headline scrolling through your feed,

When you see it on the news,

What exactly should we be feeling?

 

How are we supposed to act upon those headlines,

When they don’t stop coming and coming, and coming again,

Because I know as teenagers in this society we are typing away poems, and typing away captions just to see if it will make any change.

 

Change,

The act of making or becoming different.