Winners of the 1st Annual
Flor y Colibri/Itzolin García Concurso de Arte y Poesia
for Bay Area Youth

I am proud to announce the winners of the 1st Flor y Colibri/Itzolin Garcia Concurso de Arte y Poesia for Bay Area Youth.

Each student received a certificate for entering the contest, while the winners also received prize money provided by the Renato I. Rosaldo Award and Expresion! Magazine.

May we continue to support young, emerging artists in their endeavors for creative expression and their search for truth, beauty, peace and understanding.

para Itzo,

erandi
Gabriela Rico

Visual Art Winners

Click any picture to see a larger version.

There were two visual art winners from Leadership High School.

"Bitches Brew" (watercolor) by Melissa Ortiz,
Leadership High School

"Que Viva la Mujer!" by Yamini Bhatnagar,
Leadership High School

One visual art winner at the Elementary School Level:

"Daredevil" by Marco Moreno,
6th Grade from Kennedy Middle School, Redwood City

Elementary Category Written Entries

2 winners (tie):

WAR
by Emma Styles-Swaim
5th Grade, Sequoia Elementary School

War. War is fighting. Killing. Hatred. Blood.
Devastation. Suspicion. People fighting for -- their country?
I don't think so.
Who does our president think he is?
Sending innocent soldiers to their deathbeds!
Or worse, they live on. Hearts full of memories.
No way of walking without stepping on a dead body.
A body once alive with joy, surprise, anger, love, LIFE!
Gone.
Waking up to the sounds of shooting, yelling, the wounded groaning.
Waking up to the smell of death.
Waking up to see that the man you whispered "goodnight" to,
just last night, is dead.
That's no way to live. No.
Who can enjoy life while haunted by these memories?
But they keep on living.
If you could call it living.
Not me.

Equal Colors
by Danielle Guess
6th Grade, Kennedy Middle School

Don't let their words turn you around,
Keep singing your song and let them hear it.
Don't let the sound of the whip or screams of your men turn you around,
Keep singing your song and make them hear it.
Don't let their words turn you around,
Keep praying that one day they'll hear your sound,
and they'll turn around
and Black and White can sing together.
Don't let their words turn you around,
Keep dancing and tapping your feet on the bricks,
Wherever they keep you and maybe just maybe
Black and White can dance together.
Keep singing,
Keep praying,
and keep dancing
And someday, all colors can be
equal
to
one.

II. Middle School Category; Written Entry Winner

Historical Poem (Malcolm X)
By Ofa Tamanil
8th Grade, Kennedy Middle School

Check it out ya'll, homie G
We're going to talk about Black history

Malcolm X was the person that we chose
So this is how the story goes

Give us our freedom, Give us our Rights
Give us what we need, and we shall not fight

Born on May 19, year 25, his skin was light colored
But that wasn't all right

It's sad to hear how his grams got raped
It's sad to know, it was a white mate

His parents were killed by a couple white guys
Living in this world, man, he was living through these lies

Malcolm X hated every drop of white man's blood
Malcolm hated that this skin was the light color of mud

Give us our freedom, Give us our Rights
Give us what we want, and we shall not fight

Time flew by as he grew
Before you know it, he was looking brand new

He worked for many jobs, one which he led
On the streets he was known as "Detroit Red"

At the age of 20, chilling in the lobby
He was arrested and found guilty of armed robbery

Give us our freedom, Give us our Rights
Give us what we want, and we shall not fight

It's often seeing a black behind the joint
No one is winning, no 3 game point

Having to do education behind bars
Reading and writing, damn, he went too far

After getting out of jail, he changed his name
From Malik Shabazz to Malcolm X which is fame

Give us our freedom, Give us our Rights
Give us what we want, and we shall not fight

Malcolm was sent to a friend, one he had met
There was a leader named Elijah Muhammad

Around the world he was sent on a speaking tour
The crowd loved his speeches as they're cheering for more

Give us our freedom, Give us our Rights
Give us what we want, and we shall not fight

In his speeches, Malcolm used inflammatory languages
Which brang African Americans out from their cages

"Stand up against discrimination," Malcolm yelled
"Show them that anger is what we're filled."

H shall say that the white are devils
Most of them are but, well, there are just several

Give us our freedom, Give us our Rights
Give us what we want, and we shall not fight

Armed with his new theory he continued to rise
Blacks stood up, while white were surprised

Many people were lead by Malcolm's vision
While others thought, that was a collision

On February 21, Malcolm was gunned down
As still as he was, he was dead as he was found

Give us our freedom, Give us our Rights
Give us what we want, and we shall not fight

III. Honorable Mentions: Elementary

Sadness
By Janai E. Lewis
5th Grade, Sequoia Elementary School
Honorable Mention

Sadness, people crying,
People hurt,
Do you know how I feel?
I feel like crying
What am I going to do in this world?

Sadness, people dying,
People fighting,
Do you know that hurts me?
It hurts me a lot.
Fussing, it happens a lot,
Bombs, guns,
Anything that hurts or kills somebody is
Sadness.

Sadness, don't you think
There should be more love in this world?
When someone has died I feel like running and crying,
Why would Bush do something like this?
Sadness.

Elementary Honorable Mention #2

What I Think
By Faith Powell
5th Grade, Sequoia Elementary School

I cry all night,
Looking at my light.
It's so sad to see Iraqi kids dying.
Looking at blood I feel so frightened.
Do you feel what I think?
Do you believe in what I think?
You don't have to think what I think,
But if you do, that's OK.
Soldiers shouldn't die,
And see their kids cry.
Let's believe in ourselves and say we want peace!
People, you, everybody, and people on the streets, need love,
Just like a baby peaceful dove.
When I look into the sky,
I don't want to die.
How do you feel or think?
I say to Bush, his wife and kids,
What's going on? What's going on?
It changes what I think about you.
Did you know a man died just a week ago?
My teacher told me. Help us, OK?
I wish you would help us and STOP WAR!
I wish of loving everybody.
I wish whatever I think,
And I think what I want to think.
R.I.P. the young ones and old ones who died.

Middle School Honorable Mention

Coming to America
Dedicated to: My Grandparents
By Brenda Lopez
8th Grade, Kennedy Middle School

Restarting a new beginning
Entering into another world
Interacting with other kinds of people
New beginnings to our lives
Colors you have never seen before
Absolute confidence in their future
Remembering the me that cannot be
New beginning to your life
Acting as if you had rose colored glasses
Truly this land is magical
I was born one day
Only we remember our never ending joy
New beginnings to your lives.

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