“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...
Does the pigment of my skin determine my character? Or am I just a little black girl? Does the pigment of my skin change your perception of me? Does it determine my worth? Or am I just a little black girl? See, I wasn’t put here just to be good-looking. Read the pages of my book and see what I’ve got cooking. From the color of my skin to the strides of my walk to the talk that I talk, my black is power. From my culture to my spirit to the pain of my background, my black is power. The roots of my tree go so very deep, you can hear the boldness in every word that I speak. My vocabulary will throw you off, my appearance will fool you, and my intelligence will school you. Don’t underestimate that “little black girl.” Respect is not what I require, respect is what I demand. Barack Obama taught me I can change the world. And that it can happen from the hands of a little black girl.
Kailey McGee is 17 and currently a senior at Young Audiences Charter School. A natural born leader, she is her school’s senior class president and a social butterfly who is extremely passionate about self-expression and public speaking. She loves makeup and spoken word. Kailey aspires to be a public speaker, pro MUA, and psychiatrist because she believes in dreaming big and succeeding even bigger.