People should get along and “try to plant a good
seed,” says Kevin Frazier, a fifth-grader at Matheny Elementary.
They should “join together, hand in hand,”
says Kiem Carter, an eighth-grader at Lincoln Magnet School.
It’s time to “give birth again to the
dream,” says Marquetta Dickerson, a freshman at Springfield High
School.
Unity and hope were the themes of this year’s
“Vision of Race Unity” art and poetry contest, sponsored by the
organizers of the Race Unity Rally, held June 5 at the Capitol.
Kevin’s, Kiem’s, and Marquetta’s
poems won first place in their age categories; Porta Central School
fifth-grader Dylan Howell’s photograph of two friends hugging outside
the Capitol won Best of Show.
Organizers awarded a total of more than $600 to the
contest winners.
The rally, an annual event, was co-sponsored this year
by the Frontiers International Club of Springfield, the Springfield area
Bahá’i community, the Women’s International League for
Peace and Freedom, and Illinois Times.
Dylan’s photo, the first- and second-place
poems, and other winning art works are published here. These entries and
others will be on display for the rest of June at the Lincoln Library.
The Very Same Need
By Kevin Frazier
5th grade, Matheny School
People should get along
instead of fighting envy and greed.
When you look within,
They all have the very same need.
People should get along.
Every heart pumps, feels, and bleeds.
When you look within
they all have the very same need.
People should get along
We all have systems to feed.
When you look within,
they all have the very same need.
People should get along,
and try to plant a good seed.
When you look within,
they all have the very same need.
Unity of the People
By Kiem Carter
8th grade, Lincoln Magnet School
It’s been a long time, been a long time . . .
You know
We’re killing each other
Discrimination
Injustice
Prejudice
Slavery’s passed
Segregation
Struggling for acceptance
Join together
Hand in hand
Black & White
Walk together
Not as colors
As people
As family
Stop the struggle
End the separation
End the hurt
Be happy
Be together
Be united
As a people
Races, Let Us Unite
By Marquetta Dickerson
9th grade, Springfield High School
Robed in PEACE & LOVE, we will sing the song
The CREATOR gave us when we were ONE.
Races, let us unite
So the Hispanic, Asian, Caucasian and the Jew
The African-American, Native American,
and the Sioux
Descendant of some passed-on sojourner/
Races, let us unite
Men, women and children give birth again
to the dream
Each new hour holds new chances for us to begin
Mold it into the shape of your private need
Start now, planting the seed
Races, let us unite
The Heavenly Host leans forward,
Offering us space to place new steps of change.
On the pulse of this “Race Unity Day,” we
may have the
Courage for UNITY!
Races, let us unite
With the beat of one heartbeat, we may have the grace
to look up and out . . .
Into our sisters’, our brothers’ eyes and
into our FATHER’s face.
Races, let us unite
Let’s Grow Together in Unity
By Zhavier J. Harris
4th grade, Calvary Academy
Roses are red,
violets are blue . . .
Although we are different,
we have similarities, too.
Like we are people,
we all live in countries,
we all play games,
and we all have parents, too.
Although we are different,
we can smile and joke, too.
We all have different hair,
styles and ways, too.
Some people are old,
and some are new.
Although we are different,
we are all people, too.
We can all love
and live together, too.
Roses are red,
violets are blue . . .
They are flowers
and grow together, too.
World Vision
By Niki Loehle
6th grade, Naperville
Why can’t the world be unified?
Why can’t people just compromise?
What’s wrong with holding hands
with races of every kind?
What’s wrong with just being kind to all
and caring for everyone?
No matter what our difference,
our souls are still the same.
One day the world will all be kind.
There’ll be no more wars at any time.
People of different walks of life, of creeds, and race
and gender alike
Will all hold hands and all be friends, and everyone
will make amends.
One Day
By Mara Moore
9th grade, Southeast High School
What could it be . . .
That has happened around me?
There’s lot of hatred all around,
It seems as though the world is crumbling down.
Why can’t people see . . .
That everyone is just like you and me?
Whether they are red, white, blue or black,
We’re only human — why can’t we take
one step and not look back?
We need to stand side by side,
Instead we’re torn apart, world wide . . .
One day . . .
Life would be great,
If everyone looked past skin and could really relate.
We always hear people talking about peace,
But yet we still can’t look past race . . .
God made everyone the same,
So why does everyone still complain?
We could all laugh for a lifetime and never find,
Or cry for a century and never look behind . . .
I won’t ever close my eyes,
Because I’m afraid of all of the lies . . .
I am just a teen,
Whose thoughts want to be seen.
One day . . .
We all will see life as I do.
But until then, I will wait and hope that it will
change soon.
I hope that my dream will change people,
And help them see that we are all alike.
One day . . .
We will all unite as one . . .
One day . . .
They will see the world as I do,
And that they will overcome and all unite as one.
This article appears in Jun 16-22, 2005.
