WORDS OF ONE: THE POETRY, PROSE, AND PHOTOGRAPHY FROM AN ACTIVIST LIVING IN NEW YORK CITY

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THIS BOOK AND ABOUT THIS TOPIC? (E.G. A SPECIFIC EVENT?)

 Because I already do a lot of activism through policymaking and public speaking, I wanted to expand my activism to something more visual and written. I've always loved writing, especially poetry, and I recently enjoyed taking photographs of different objects around my place and finding deeper messages within different photos. I love writing because I get to verbalize the strong emotions I feel when I see someone who likes like me getting attacked on the train just because of the way they look, or when I breathe and my lungs get filled with smoke from climate change. I wrote this book in order to remind our youth that whatever way you can get involved in activism, whether that's through writing or photography or public speaking, do it!

COULD YOU WALK US THROUGH YOUR PROCESS OF PLANNING AND WRITING THIS BOOK (E.G. DID YOU CONTACT OR MEET WITH ANYONE WHEN WRITING IT)?

I first got the idea to write my book at the beginning of June. I watched several videos on YouTube on how to publish a book. I soon realized that self-publishing was the best route for me to take because it would be easier to get my work read by other people and I would be able to control outreach efforts. For the following approximately eight weeks, it was writing time. Whether that was writing new poems or pieces of prose for my book, collecting old pieces that I already wrote over the years, taking new photographs, or collecting old ones, the bulk of my time was dedicated to writing and taking photographs. Towards the end of the process, I asked one of my friends to skim through some parts of my book (shoutout to Radyah!) because I wanted to make sure that the message of each piece was clear. Once it got to around the middle of August, I knew that that was the perfect time to publish it. And here it is!

WHAT WAS ONE OF THE MOST SURPRISING THINGS YOU LEARNED WHEN WRITING YOUR BOOK?

The most surprising thing I learned while writing my book is that it is so hard to find an end to it! Especially because my book is a collection of different poems, pieces of prose, and photographs about different societal issues, I didn't know when was the perfect time to pause writing and publish it. From climate change to racism to educational inequity, there are so many issues in New York City, and in our world, and it is extremely difficult to capture them all in one book. I am hoping that this is just the first of many books so that I can talk about other topics as well!

WHICH ISSUE THAT YOU TALK ABOUT IN YOUR BOOK DO YOU FEEL IMPACTS OUR WORLD THE MOST?

I talk a lot about racism in my book because I think that racism is the most important issue we are facing right now. Whether that's active racial discrimination or racism through the educational inequities that we face, racism is a necessary topic to always talk about until we end this issue.

WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH WITH THIS BOOK?

I hope that when young people read my book, they feel inspired to become an activist. I hope they can learn more about some of the issues plaguing our world and understand that they can be a part of the movement to enact change. I also hope that if politicians read my book, they see that young people are not voiceless and in fact, we do very much care about these issues. I hope that they can feel even more of a sense of urgency to create an equitable world for all of us to thrive in.

DO YOU FIND THAT BEING A YOUTH ACTIVIST COMES WITH BARRIERS? IF SO, HOW DID YOU OVERCOME THEM?

I definitely think that being a youth activist comes with barriers. So many adults think that we shouldn't be in a certain space because we're not the right fit for it or because we're not knowledgeable enough to understand these issues. I've entered spaces where if you are a young person who speaks there, you will be looked down upon just because you are young. But young people do know about these issues a lot and I think our voices should be listened to the most because we are the biggest victims of our world's inequities. We should be given seats at the table but if that table is exclusive, then we'll make our own table where we foster intersectionality, intergenerational work, and inclusivity.

IF YOU HAD TO DESCRIBE YOUR BOOK WITH THREE WORDS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE AND WHY?

I would say "Hungry, Question, Continue." I would say "Hungry" because I hope that after reading this book, you feel hungry in that you want to learn more about these issues in our world. I hope that you are craving to do research on different issues so that you can get involved in the movement to enact change. I would say "Question" in a positive connotation because I hope that it raises questions on different issues going on in this world. Are students really facing this and I didn't know this entire time? What is going on in my own neighborhood when it comes to racism? What else can I do to get involved? I would finally say "Continue" because this isn't the last step. We need to be constantly advocating for change if we want change. This book is just the first of many.

FINALLY, ANY TIPS AND ADVICE FOR ASPIRING WRITERS OR FELLOW ACTIVISTS OUT THERE?

Do what makes you scared! If you're scared that you will be yelled at by a racist individual when you speak at an event, speak at it! If you're scared to share your writing online because it'll anger your teacher, share it! If you're scared to start a campaign to raise awareness because your friends don't care about this issue, start it! Do what makes you scared because once you accomplish these actions, then not only are you a better activist, but you grew as a person.