Kivona S.
Pembroke Pines Campus Finalist
I'm sure all of us have been through a time of Injustice at some point in our lives but during this pandemic and social distancing and has gotten worse. I remember being in school as a young black female and having people criticize me because of my skin color I used to feel as if I wasn't beautiful nor good enough to do anything like them. I was only in elementary and the color of my skin was a problem for me because I saw how everyone lighter than me had things that I never did.
Even as an adult I remember there was a time I worked at McDonald's, it was my first job. The managers and employees were mainly Hispanic or Caucasian at that time and I was pretty much an outcast with the rest of the African Americans that worked there. They told me to do things along with the other people of color that they didn't want to do themselves and didn't want other Caucasian or Hispanic employees to do. They treated us as if we had no choice. Threatened us with our job and once they felt like they had no control over what we did when we started to decline to do things that shouldn't have been done in our job description they just fired us.
All my life I have watched people of my color and other race struggle to get by, to get in school, to get jobs, and to survive. Through all these years later there is no one who can say that the criticism or the injustice of socializing with other races or being of a race that is treated not equal is getting any better anytime soon. I've watched so many people in the African American community get killed for unjust reasons and watched others be handled and ways that we all see others aren't treated.
It is sad that we all have to come together through destruction or through things happening in a bad way towards our community but I am glad that we finally see that we are stronger in numbers. We are capable of whatever we put our minds to and do the things that we want and no one can hold us back.
Before I started school, I was struggling homeless and jobless I took it upon myself to want better and do better.
I plan on continuing my education and throughout the time of my life to do what I can for my community and help as many people as possible to see that we are equal regardless of who thinks or feels otherwise. I will continue to be a proud African American female. I will be teaching my younger generation to be proud of who they are and don't let the color of their skin make them feel any less worthy than others.
I have a 6-year old son who will not grow up being afraid of who he is and where he comes from, or from the color of his skin. I will make sure he knows that I support him through everything and will make sure he has every opportunity that everyone else does. I am sick and tired of all these racism issues going on.
At the end of the day, we are all human. We are all bleeding the same color blood and we are all here to be the best that we can be. I will be supporting more black businesses as well as trying to give back to the community as much as possible. I will protest the peaceful way and show that we are strong when United together, not just for the African Americans but for any race or any person that feels they have been criticized for their race or impacted by the Injustice of those who choose to outcasts them.
I will no longer stand by and watch all of this go on social media nor will I continue to hear about it and do nothing. I am now going to be there to support whenever possible because I have family that has been abuse and hurt by the injustice system. I have been there feeling like my skin color was not good enough for those who felt and acted like they were better than me. Black lives matter and ALL lives matter. We are no better than anyone we should all have equal opportunities just like others. We should not be put in a box because of where we come from. I raise my fist shouting I am black and proud and you should be proud to be who you are.
We should hold hands and fight together to get our world back safe and back on track when it comes to the system and remember that this is not the slavery days anymore. This is not the way people should be treated. Racism is taught, it is not naturally born in us. Keep the young educated and keep the hatred buried. It's a new time, it's a new day and I'm tired of living this way.