“As you undoubtedly heard in the president’s address last night, rule 171 is a change to the nightly curfew,” Spicerbot’s words came in clipped tones, cameras flitting from face to face. “It is now seven o’clock instead of eight o’clock due to Daylight Savings Time.”
“Is there any truth to the claim that it’s really because of anomalies in the timing of the sunset?” asked the first reporter, a middle-aged woman in a faded lime-green jumpsuit.
“No comment,” Spicerbot replied.
The woman arched a shaggy eyebrow. “But Daylight Savings Time hasn’t existed for twenty years,” she countered. “Care to comment?”
Spicerbot paused, and a fan at its left temple began to whir. “Daylight Savings Time has always existed.” Click click click went the cameras. The woman frowned, then scratched on her notebook with a stubby pencil.
“Is it true that the wolves will be let out earlier, too?” asked the second reporter, his tiny brown eyes peeking through an unruly white forelock.
“You know I’m not going to answer that,” Spicerbot said. “Now, onto the rumors about the president’s alleged software upgrade. These are exactly that: rumors. The president already has the best operating system money can buy. I repeat: The best. Money can buy. There’s no need for an upgrade.”
The third reporter, a skinny man with his feet propped on the empty chair in front of him, asked: “How’s the missile rollout coming?”
“Thanks for the question, Gary,” Spicerbot said. “Come by the office this afternoon and I’ll give you a scoop.”
Spicerbot shuffled some blank papers on the podium and, with a metallic clearing of the throat, said, “Now, that concludes today’s press briefing. Thank you all.”
The woman in the jumpsuit and the man with the white hair jumped up. “What about the new rule 172?” she shouted, at the same time that he cried, “Won’t you clarify the new tax penalty—is it true about the consequences?”
Spicerbot’s cameras went click click click and his fan went whir whir whir. After some time came the reply.
“No comment.”
MEDELIN CUEVAS
YEARS AS MENTEE: 2
GRADE: Junior
HIGH SCHOOL: H.E.R.O. High School
BORN: Santiago, Dominican Republic
LIVES: Bronx, NY
PUBLICATIONS AND RECOGNITIONS: Scholastic Art & Writing Award: Silver Key; Founder of Decipher (Poetry club)
MENTEE’S ANECDOTE: Rakia has challenged me in many aspects mentally as a writer and as a person. Every time when I would write a piece, she would help me to go deeper to pick out the potential in my writing that I didn’t always see myself when it came to my own personal experiences.
RAKIA CLARK
YEARS AS MENTOR: 1
OCCUPATION: Senior Editor, Beacon Press
BORN: Atlantic City, NJ
LIVES: New York, NY
MENTOR’S ANECDOTE: Maddy has reminded me how much fun and how stressful being a teenager is. I am in constant awe of how she is able to manage her studies with her lively personal life and her upcoming pressures about college.
As an Afro Latina in the United States, it’s very common to see inequality. As a result, I spoke up about this dilemma and will stop at nothing to see a change in my country I call home.
One of the hottest topics today is immigration. The news, social media, and many other informative outlets argue that immigrants influence violence, promote terrorism, and bring chaos to otherwise calm communities. As the freedom of immigrants who look like me and my family hangs by a thread, it is scary to know that some Americans believe our country can only move forward and be better without “bad hombres.”
How can we move forward if we let negative stereotypes separate us more than they bring us together? Misunderstanding the intentions of immigrants who are trying to better themselves as people is not cool. In school, I have heard phrases like, “Hispanics can’t wear hijabs,” “Africans have a foul odor,” “Asians are human calculators,” and “most immigrants should stay at the bottom of the food chain and do America’s dirty work.”
We the people—from the Preamble of our nation’s Constitution—should include everyone. That is how we will emerge as one and create a better America. That is how we will move more efficiently as a country. We have to work together.
From what I have seen and experienced as a Dominican-American teenager, immigrants are really underappreciated, yet we are the building blocks of American culture. For instance, we are the people who help make America a multi-linguistic country. We bring strong compassion and leadership skills. We also consistently fight to win greater recognition and advocacy for our communities. From Sonia Sotomayor to Malala Yousafzai, we immigrants fight for what’s right and stop at nothing to gain equality that helps everyone and not just ourselves. We do this despite having to face bigotry that is sometimes too difficult to handle.
To Americans who believe in that “bad hombre” line of thinking, I have a question: Why can’t you all cross your community’s invisible lines and educate yourself? That’s where the confusion comes from—a lack of education. You have no right to make an immigrant feel less than he or she is. No group of immigrants should feel as if they carry a disease or be targeted as criminals, or be considered poor and needy just because they ask for assistance. It’s not like America is perfect. It has its flaws and is also in need of a pick-me-up sometimes. Instead of pointing fingers at others for the disconnect, take a closer look at yourselves. Try rewiring your own thinking and comprehending more from people who don’t look like you. Because if you do not, you will most likely see another great depression, and I do not only mean that economically.
The voicelessness that immigrants feel is unfair. America is a country of opportunity and everyone has a right to express their ideas, emotions, and actions without a law prohibiting them. Just take me as an example. I am the proud daughter of an immigrant, representing not only my voice, but my mother’s voice as well.
Just look at the people around us. People from Syria are fleeing from their civil war between each other to protect their religious practices and rights. People from Haiti are going to Puerto Rico to try to get the same U.S. benefits as the native Puerto Ricans. Mexicans are crossing over borders and large bodies of water to gain a better living for themselves and to be an American without losing their roots. Some people are literally dying to get here. We as a union—We the People—should have a right to live together in one country as good, hardworking people, instead of being lumped in with criminals. There are some “bad hombres” in the world, yes. But there are way more good ones.
Home Again
RAKIA CLARK
Immigration is in the news now more than ever. It is no wonder Maddy and I had big thoughts about it.
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