Kai Wells, 12 (Maryland) Black God created us hoping we would be equal Not knowing that some would be treated differently Killed Murdered Shot Black You turn on the news and someone was killed… AGAIN Police offering us to God as if we are chocolate Our voices shut down before they can be heard Say their names They all matter Black Lives Matter Trayvon Martin Tamir Rice George Floyd Phillip White Michael Brown Sandra Bland Eric Garner Mya Hall Breonna Taylor All people who died JUST FOR BEING BLACK All of them had families who cared Some had kids Some had siblings All expecting their loved one to come home Only to find they were murdered Imagine the tears Imagine the heartbreak Can you imagine that Or are you too busy trying to keep America safe from “threats” Trying to keep them safe from black people Because when do kids like me go from cute and precious To dangerous and a threat to their community Like MLK I have a dream A dream that sometimes feels like an unknown reality A dream that feels fake I dream for black men and women to walk freely Without the fear that their lives are in danger No one should have to feel that they are constantly being judged No one should have to feel that they have to watch their back every living moment No mother should feel that feeling You know that feeling When you feel that something isn’t right They shouldn’t have to feel that but they do and it’s ten times worse They shouldn’t have to worry if they send their child out to play They shouldn’t have to worry if their husband is late from work They shouldn’t have to worry that their loved one might get killed Imagine that pain Imagine that worry It’s real Every mother of a young black child has felt it Every child should be able to walk down the street not considered a threat Every child should be able to wear a hoodie if it’s cold outside Every young boy should be able to play with a toy gun if they choose to Every young girl should be able to express themselves freely and not be stereotyped as a mad black girl But you don’t care You never care Because all we are to you is A threat Different Lower than Black Ever since slavery there has always been that sense of hope That the next generation would have it better But deep down they know It never gets better for us They are afraid of us Who is us Black We need to stand up Rise up Stand tall Show them that enough is enough I dream that black mothers can one day let their child outside knowing they will be safe But for now We show them that enough is enough We show them that they can never tear us down Why Because we are black We are black on black on black And we will fight until this injustice is brought to a stop Dear Moma I am a human I live in this country I call home… ish I may look different I may have different hair I may have different ancestry I may not look like the people on tv unless they were from the news stories I may not look like my friends But I am human And every day I leave home my moma says she loves me I think it’s just a saying But it’s true For my moma she loves me She loves my heart and soul Even though people would kill Just to kill it I didn’t know what this love meant Until I heard the stories For people who look like me are illegal For I am out of my own control For I can, no, will be called an n- But I don’t care I block them out Cause there will be that day When that red and blue comes hand on that protection shield Protection from what, from me That protection is the same thing that sent so many to be with many more But I will come home tonight I promise Love— BANG!!!! Time stops buts speeds up at the same time The pain, as I slowly drown in a red storm Darkness Then light… the light P.S. I love you too, Moma Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum The sound of the music goes bum bum bum The beat keeping me on this planet goes bum bum bum bum Although people have the desire to end it mid-sentence But all these beats join the crowd in the sky But the beat of my soul goes on Even when people want me torn into shreds For being the illegal color that I am in this one-sided world It keeps bum bum bumming Forever The soul lives on And the beat keeps going Bum bum bum bum bum bum These poems were sent to us as part of our Classroom Submissions (for teachers only) Program. If you are a teacher of children 13 and younger and would like to submit your students’ work to Stone Soup, please do so via our Submittable.
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Weekly Creativity #171: Design a Game, or Write About a Game You’d Like to Play.
Design a game, or write about a game you’d like to play. It could be a board game, a video game, or anything else!
Saturday Newsletter: September 25, 2021
Astro Doll (mixed media) by Ruth, 8 (Ethiopia & Kenya), published in the September 2021 Issue of Stone Soup A note from Laura Dear friends, It’s hard to believe this is my first official newsletter. Some of you may know me from the Book Club for Writers. I am also an enthusiastic Stone Soup parent. My primary role at Stone Soup is the director of the Refugee Project. I want to write to you from that perspective today. The Refugee Project was launched in 2018 with the aim of providing a platform for refugee children to use their voices to tell their own stories. To do that, we have partnered with several organizations that work with young people, both in refugee camps and living in countries far from their homes, where they have been relocated to build a new life. Through these partnerships, we have collected over three-hundred pieces of artwork and writing by young refugees. Some of these are featured in the September issue of Stone Soup. Two particularly intriguing pieces are Astro Doll and Astro Doll Queen, created by students at Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya, with the support of the My Start Project. The term “Astro Doll” was made up by these young artists to capture the alien, or otherworldly, quality of the dolls. These artists were inspired by the idea of their own legal status as refugees—refugees are not granted citizenship in the countries where they are forced to reside and are instead labeled as having “alien status.” The Future of the Refugee Project In the next phase of the Refugee Project, as we continue to collect creative works by refugee youth for display on the website, we are also working to expand and deepen our collaboration with the organizations that have already contributed writing and artwork to the Refugee Project. Our central goal for these ongoing collaborations is to facilitate further engagement between you, our Stone Soup audience, and the artists and creative works displayed through the Refugee Project. This means many exciting prospective projects, including teaching creative writing to young people in refugee camps and then, through these efforts, facilitating collaborative learning—things like pen pal partnerships and other ways of exchanging and engaging with one another’s writing and artwork. To make this vision a reality, we need your help. Our fundraising drive for this project will last through the end of September. Our deepest thanks to those of you who have already donated to support this work! Click here to donate now. To explore our growing collection of creative work by refugee youth in its entirety, check out our newly created Refugee Project web portal. Book Club Join Book Club today to discuss Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk and to have a say in our October book choice! We are thrilled to share that we will be joined by Lucy Worsley, a prominent British author and historian to discuss her fantastic book The Austen Girls. Sign up for the December Book Club today to meet Ms. Worsley and discuss this fresh and fun story about some never-before-told trials and tribulations in the life of Jane Austen! Weekend Project For your weekend project, I encourage you to explore, in writing or artwork, the idea of “other worlds.” You can explore this theme through many lenses. You might seek, through your creative efforts, to create a sense of place that feels foreign, unfamiliar, or alternate to your own world. Or you might go even deeper and explore, in your writing or artwork, the concept of alienation. How might you represent being unsettled? How might you challenge a sense of rootedness and belonging in your characters or artistic subjects? As always, we encourage you to submit the work you produce to Stone Soup for consideration either in the magazine or on the blog. Until next time, Former Contributor Sabrina Guo Garners Recognition from President Biden Write and publish a multimedia E-book with Dr. Jiang Pu! Dr. Jiang Pu, a member of the Stone Soup family, is offering a series of ten classes on publishing a multimedia e-book on Asian/Pacific Islander American heroes in conjunction with published authors Oliver Chin and David Siller! Students will have their multimedia e-books published in the world’s first student-made AAPI online library and present at SCCL Young Author Talk Forum and lunar new year event! This is a class for highly motivated young writers who want to practice research skills, media literacy and critical thinking, multimedia creative design, and more. As we all have different learning capabilities as well as varying schedules, Dr. Pu has split the class into three different start times: every Wednesday at 4 pm PDT starting September 29 for children grades 4–7, every Friday at 4 pm PDT starting October 1 for children grades 4–7, and every Monday at 4:15 pm PDT starting October 4 for children grades 8–11. Stone Soup subscribers get $100 off with coupon “Soup100”! Selfie Contest 2021: With and Without Masks As has always been the case, we want these selfies to tell us a story. Think about how masks can both aid and make more difficult the expression of thoughts and feelings. How can you show us who you are behind the mask, and how can you build off of that image once the mask disappears, or vice versa? Get creative! Try something you’ve never thought to try before! Surprise us, and—most importantly—surprise yourself! You may submit up to four selfies: two with a mask and two without. Deadline: October 3, 2021 To submit to this contest, please visit our Submittable page. Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at on our blog! Young Blogger Daniel, 10, reviewed Robert Louis Stevenson’s iconic novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. From Stone Soup September 2021 It Needs Courage! By Parwani Amiri, 16 (Herat Province, Afghanistan [Ritsona Refugee Camp, Greece]) It needs courage to build a school ! It needs courage to touch children’s hearts ! It needs courage to welcome homelessness ! It needs courage to stand with us in one line
