Choosing Joy as I Strive for Justice
Black Youth Create
During the summer of 2020, the Amplify Black Voices Project was founded. The project raised money that would contribute to the education and efforts of the next generation of anti-racists and Black liberationists as well as provide self-identifying Black youth with the opportunity to create work that celebrates and depicts what it is like to live at the intersection of Blackness and youth. The Amplify Black Voices Project and the resulting Black Youth Create Creative Works Collection, made up of submissions of art, poetry, videos, and more, raised over two-hundred and fifty dollars in sponsor pledges towards Be the Bridge and the Black Visions Collective. You can find the names of the young creators alongside their work.
You can find out more about the Amplify Black Voices Project here.
By Manal
Sophia Hounton is a seventeen year old West African - American artist based in the Pacific Northwest. She has been practicing and studying art from a young age and currently works mainly in digital illustration, oil painting, and traditional drawing. However, she also enjoys photography, videography, writing, and dance. Her works reflect her personal experience as a young Black woman connecting with her Beninese ancestors while living in America. Her work can be found on Instagram @damedanse.
Maya is a young Black girl creative who thrives in several art forms. Her poetry is uniquely deep and original and her art has been recognized at the state level by the National Beta Club, qualifying her for national competition. When she’s not creating mixed media or marker-based art, she’s taking performing arts classes or designing her next fabulous outfit.
Black boy joy/ Watermelon on a lazy Sunday evening
Black boy joy/ Early soccer tournament mornings
Black boy joy/ Turkey sausage, potatoes and pancakes
Black boy joy/ Twisting, tugging and combing of hair
Black boy struggle/ Late night movies
Black boy joy/ These are the things
That bring me joy.
Jack is a male teen writer who has spent years dedicated to writing creative fiction stories and poems in his free time. This is one of his first times submitting a poem to be featured on a website, and he hopes continue on and submit to more things.
Cirrus Sky is a self-taught, multifaceted, BLACK artist. She expresses herself through art in all forms, constantly finding a new medium to explore. She accentuates her Black girl magic in all of her work by using inspiration from her Kemetic Spirituality. You can find more of her work on Instagram @cirrusxart and @cirrusxsky.
Asher-Tristan is an eleven year old artist who lives in the DMV area. In his spare time, he likes to write poetry and he is very passionate about his art and the Black Lives Matter movement. His art has been recognized at the state level by the National Beta Club, qualifying him for national competition.
Khloe created her art piece to reflect how she’s feeling about what's going on in the world. The pain, sadness, and joy she’s felt is conveyed through her painting. You can find out more about Khloe on Instagram @khloeonthehill.
Leila made this self-portrait of herself at an art class! She is an 11-year-old who loves music, dabbles in art, and enjoys dancing ballet, acro, jazz, tap, hip hop, and lyrical. She is a voracious reader of books and appreciates learning more facts about history. Leila lives in CT with her fam bam. You can visit her on Tumblr @cloudynightsss.
This is the place, the place I belong, where the air is still, where I can hear the birdsong. Where I can nest, where I can see, where I can rest and where I can be. Where I am now, there is no birdsong, I cannot rest, everything is wrong. But I imagined this, a place away from the throng, this is the place, the place I belong.
This is the place, the place I see fit, where the days are warm, where I can sit back and knit. Where I don’t have to worry, I don’t have to fear, where I don’t need to hurry, and it’s so very clear. Where I am now, the days are cold, the shiniest of walls, grows the most grotesque of molds. But I thought up, a place without all the spit, this is the place, the place I see fit.
This is the place, the place I so wish, that I was in the sea, and not somebodies’ dish. Where I can live, live to be free, to play, to dance and to just be me. I wish it would stop, that they would put their forks down, but they just keep taking bites, and all I can do is drown. But I dreamt up this place, where the bread doesn’t squish, this is the place, the place I so wish.
This is the place, the place I am not, where the water sings, where no one’s fought. Where there is no hate, there is no poor, there is no tragedy and there’s never ever war. I hope that I can be there someday, someday soon rather than later, but all I can do is wait it out, and sometimes it’s too much to cater. I don’t know when, I don’t know squat, but I know for a fact, that place I am not.
I have spoken, I sung my song, but what about you, where do you belong?
Daniel B. is a Home School student and lover of writing, physics, robotics, coding and all things chess. Every day is a good day to play Chess!
Manal is a 16-year-old A-level student from the UK. Originally from East Africa, Manal is also Muslim. Creating digital and traditional art is something Manal enjoys doing in her spare time; it's one of the best ways to express herself and her interests.
Nia S. Rackley is a 12 -year- old homeschooler who loves dance, art, and poetry. Nia believes that Black Lives Matter, and hopes that one day she can change the world through dance. You can follow her on Tumblr @nia-nook.
I am from books,
From Tiffany D. Jackson
And Maya Angelou.
I am from the big yard with long grass
Green and flowy, tickling my legs as
I run.
I am from black-eyed susans,
Petals traveling with the wind.
I’m from warm sweet potato souffle
On Thanksgiving, and family game nights.
From Rackleys, and Huffs.
From perfectionists who turn lemons into lemonade.
From you can do ANYTHING you put your mind to’s
And misery loves company.
From love and karma.
I’m from Connecticut, North Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia.
From my parents’ hard work and perseverance,
And the sacrifices my ancestors made.
My jar full of mementos from baseball games,
And fun vacations.
I am from these warm fuzzy memories
That make me the person I am today.