


JUNIOR SCHOLARS PROGRAM
POETRY

By Any Means Necessary
pROJECT
presented by
The Schomburg Center
Junior Scholars
The Junior Scholar Poets began the year with The Autobiography of Malcolm X and his words powerfully resonated with the scholars. Each year, the spoken word group spends an immense amount of time building relationships through games, presentations and conversations. Scholars are prompted to explore topics that are uncomfortable and we challenge one another to share deeply and authentically. Often this process can be validating, painful and cathartic. Spoken Word requires that we delve into introspection, reflection, observation, and self-expression.
Unbeknownst to us, CoVid 19 was making its way to the United States and would devastate New York City. While the pandemic undoubtedly altered our plans to convene and develop skill in-person as performance poets, it also provoked strong emotions that poured onto our now-virtual pages. So, we went there -- exploring the isolation, the panic, and the loss. We thought about social distancing and its varied enforcement based on race and zip code. We attempted to adjust to the confines of our homes and get reacquainted with our families. Then… we witnessed the murder of Ahmaud Arbery and the video of a white woman threatening Christian Cooper in Central Park after he’d asked her to leash her dog. Then Breonna Taylor. Then Tony McDade. Then George Floyd. We no longer had a neatly wrapped project that we were writing and revising. We were sinking and our sessions were buckets with which we feverishly fetched and dumped the water that continued to fill our ark. We survived. Now, in video and written form, you can hear and see our reactions to the catastrophes of 2020.
- Subha Ahmed, Spoken Word Instructor

Meet the Poets
"They say just get over it
But they are never ready to challenge it.
You’re tired of our cries against racism,
Just imagine how exhausted you’d feel living it
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
I CAN'T BREATHE!
Is that George Floyd or Eric Garner?
‘Cuz no matter how we far we go
We step back even farther."
Thoughts in a black mind
by Imani Washington
"They say just get over it
But they are never ready to challenge it.
You’re tired of our cries against racism,
Just imagine how exhausted you’d feel living it
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
I CAN'T BREATHE!
Is that George Floyd or Eric Garner?
‘Cuz no matter how we far we go
We step back even farther."
By Christian Archer
"to america, cause we built this country without pay
my black power fist high in the sky that hopefully reaches the heavens
so my ancestors know that i’m here
and a new revolution is starting yet again
and once it’s here i’ll finally be able to live"
The world I want to live in/ The Bullet
By Sumaiyya Malik
“Adam, why don’t u ever talk about school shit?”
“You really think you’re some cool kid?”
It’s because my grades say I’m average
My 3.3 ain’t gonna get me to Harvard
And I’m always skipping classes to get nasty
So my choices aren’t always starboard
So what can I be?"
looking out the window / legacy
by Adam Johnson-hill
"Story, a tale each one of has to tell something that can’t be discredited and never be stolen
Stolen, was my people from the diaspora and with them their culture
Culture, though it was stolen, like a Phoenix from the ashes was reborn anew still beautiful
Beautiful, like my momma said to find the beauty in everything and everyone"
Bonds
By Santiago soto
"I am capable
Capable and more conscious of my own mortality
Tied to my happiness, my safety, my freedom
My reality is setting in
As I transition from Harlem
Transition from my mother
Transition from my youth
Transition from my naivety
Into a world that must reconcile its disdain for me"
awakening
By madison stephenson
"To picture a world full of love
That has been consumed by hate
by people who want us to think we are mistakes--
An infectious rash on the shell of the earth
I can’t picture this because I refuse to lie to myself
It’s hard to stay alive in a world that wants us dead"
Re-Imagining a world for us
By khepi davis
"i don’t want any trouble
hands up don’t shoot
but they’ve already planned my death
never thought today’d be the day that i took my last breath
never wondered how long i had left to live
always thought that i had more to give
that i’d live to see my people move on
when can we stop trying to convince them
“we are strong”
one day we will be equal
when will you stop killing my people"
i don’t want any trouble
By Nila riggins
"I expected him to be there when I got out
But he was late and I guess that's fine
My best friend's dad asked if I needed a ride
And I replied
“I'm waiting for daddy”
3:00 pm hits
Waiting for daddy on the swings
3:30pm
The teachers say soon they'll have to call the police
4 pm they are still trying to reach mommy
4:30 pm"
Waiting for daddy
By kamora chapman
"The current state of life differs from the world that I want to come of age in
I don’t want people to be scared of going outside or interacting with the cops
Worried about their safety
We should be able to live in a world
Where people don’t have to die when they go outside"
re-imagining
reality
By sakif chowdhury
