• Express Yourself

    • Visual Arts: Fall-Winter 2023

      Visual Arts: Fall-Winter 2023

      “Self Portrait” by Katie McDowell (18), New Orleans Center for Creative Arts  "An Old Man in Military Costume" by Simone Wuttke (18), Dartmouth College (recent Benjamin Franklin High School graduate) "This oil on canvas painting is inspired by Rembrandt's 'An Old...

    • The Stages of Grief

      The Stages of Grief

      I have sat with anger ingrained in my ribs night after night. I know the five stages of grief. Why am I so stuck on anger? Denial was the first one. It hit when I stood in front of my fridge all alone in my house with my knees wobbling, staring at the screen on my...

    • Be Well

    • Yoga: Partner Poses

      Yoga: Partner Poses

      Partner Yoga Poses by Laurie Azzano of Lolo’s Youth StudioYaaaas, finally! Hello, summer! Inhale deadlines. Exhale freedom. If you’re like most, summer represents one big sigh of relief. No more early morning alarm clocks, homework, tests, school drama, or crazy,...

    • Saqqarah’s Brownies

      Saqqarah’s Brownies

      Makes 20-24 brownies (depending on how big you slice them) BAKE TIME: 30 minutesIngredients 6 eggs 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 3 cups brown sugar 1 cup white sugar 2 sticks butter 1/2 cup Crisco shortening 1 1/2 cups baking cocoa powder 3/4 teaspoon salt 3 teaspoons...

    • Resources for Your Mental Health

      Resources for Your Mental Health

      If you are struggling with anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, or any form of mental distress, reach out to someone right away who can be there for you. Professional help is always an option when your psychological well-being is at risk. There is zero shame in...

    • Teen-Friendly NOLA Clinics Fall-Winter 2023

      Teen-Friendly NOLA Clinics Fall-Winter 2023

      Teen-Friendly NOLA ClinicsClinics that serve adolescents usually focus on the reproductive health needs of adolescents and young adults but may also provide primary care services. The ages served vary depending on the clinic, but they usually include preteens (11 or...

    • Have Fun

    • Mindfulness Guide for Your Zodiac Sign

      Mindfulness Guide for Your Zodiac Sign

      Have you ever wondered how you can apply astrology to your everyday life but don’t know where to start? Astrology can be very complex and sometimes overwhelming to interpret, so I have compiled a quick guide to help you consciously incorporate daily practices to...

    • How to Be an Eco-Dresser

      How to Be an Eco-Dresser

      Did you know clothing isn’t biodegradable?That means it doesn’t decompose once it’s dumped in the trash—it just sits in a landfill and creates nasty greenhouse gases in our environment. “We have to think longer and harder about the clothing we wear, where it came...

    • GLITTER!

      GLITTER!

      New Orleanians love their glitter, and, more than ever, we all deserve a little extra sparkle in our lives. Addie Ellis of the local biodegradable glitter company Glitter Nymph shared with us how to make shimmery oil that is good for your skin and nature. Since you...

    • Must Read Books Fall-Winter 2023

      Must Read Books Fall-Winter 2023

      I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me by Jamison Shea What it’s about: Laure will do anything to prove a Black girl can be a star in the cutthroat world of Parisian ballet, even make a deal with a primordial power she finds in a pulsating river of blood in the...

    • Volunteer Opportunities for Service Hours

      Volunteer Opportunities for Service Hours

      Are you looking for inspiring ways to volunteer in the local community while fulfilling your school’s service hour requirements? We’ve talked to some great organizations in the area that rely on volunteers to help their wonderful programs run. Learn more about each...

    • Expand Your Mind

    • Unplanned Pregnancy in Louisiana

      Unplanned Pregnancy in Louisiana

      Imagine that you just found out you are pregnant. For some young people, this may be exciting news; for others, it is not. Questions swirl: How can I take care of a baby and finish school? How can I afford to be a parent if I don’t finish school? How will my parents...

    • Lucy Scholz

      Lucy Scholz

      Lucy Scholz is my “shero” because she ran 300 miles from Los Angeles, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada, as part of The Speed Project. That’s roughly like running to Houston, Texas, or Seaside, Florida, from New Orleans! Not only did she win the 2023 competition and...

    • When I Grow Up: Careers in Skilled Trades

      When I Grow Up: Careers in Skilled Trades

      Careers in Skilled Trades With the cost of college continuing to rise, skilled trade careers are a great alternative pathway to stable, well-paying work and upward social mobility. Many trade workers provide essential services and help build and maintain important...

  • About Us
  • Read Geaux Girl!

It has been 57 years since MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech. That’s about 3,000 weeks and over 20,000 days and we still have so far to go until we realize his dream. You’re telling me that America is one of the strongest countries in the world, and it has been 57 years and his speech still hasn’t sunk into our hearts?

My name is Amaya Kincaid. I am 14 years old and I am growing up in a world where I have to question every morning if I will end the day with my dad in my life, or if he will get shot on his next jog. I have only been alive for 14 years. But, in those 14 years, I have dealt with racial discrimination far too many times. When I was in fourth grade, the boy next to me told me to move because I wasn’t light enough to sit next to him. Being nine, I was confused, yet I moved to the next table. At nine years old, I was told that I wasn’t “good enough” to sit at a desk next to another kid. Now, at 14 years old, I am still being told that I don’t deserve to be treated equally because my skin isn’t light enough.

In 1865, the 13th Amendment officially abolished slavery in all of the U.S. It has been about 155 years, yet I still feel like I don’t belong. I still feel like an outcast because my skin is not the color people want it to be. I don’t feel comfortable in my own home, or what I called home. People of America, is that how you want me and every other kid like me to feel? So unsafe in our own country to the point where we feel that we don’t belong? Is that your goal? That is the message that you and others are sending me, a 14-year-old girl with dark skin, growing up in America. I tremble at the thought of a Black man getting his neck stood on in Minneapolis, a man getting shot while on a run, a woman drowning her own son and then blaming it on two Black men, and a youth pastor claiming he was kidnapped by Black men because his morals are too messed up to just admit to why he was in a hotel room. Four cases that have happened in the last few days, four cases that are absolutely heartbreaking.

When I hear MLK’s “I Have a Dream,’’ I interpret that if you had two people standing in front of each other, that they would be two people completely equal in every way. That you wouldn’t see a white person, a Black person, an Asian person, a Hispanic person, or a Muslim person. You just see someone who is equal to you. On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King said:

But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

Those exact words apply today. I have read that paragraph six times and every word reminds me of a different life that was taken.

Here’s my dream. I dream that one day we will be able to see each other as people, that every skin color is appealing or good enough for the other race. I dream that we will accept every gender, size, any sexual preference, any skin color, and everything that makes us all different. I want to one day be able to tell my children what happened in 2020 and have them respond with “Wow, mom, the world has changed so much since then!” I want my children and grandchildren to be proud to be an American, but if I’m not proud, then how do I teach my children to be? We can’t wait for change because we ARE the change. This is America, and we should be ashamed.

My heart, prayers, and condolences go out to all of the victims’ families. I pray that you get the justice you deserve.
We love you and we mourn with you and we are here for you.

Amaya Kincaid is 15 years old and in ninth grade at Louise S. McGehee School in New Orleans. She loves playing sports and going out with her friends. Social justice and equality have always been important to her, and she enjoys expressing herself through passionate writing. She wrote this essay in late May 2020, shortly after the killing of George Floyd by a police officer.