Youth Voices

The Afro Contemporary Art Class (ACAC) at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School began as an after school initiative that interweaves programming into and between public schools to cultivate confidence, expand...

Liz Coll, Junior, Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center Humboldt Neighborhood, North Portland "My mom came out here when I was six years old. We had been kicked out of our houses and out here it was affordable....

Kai Tomizawa, Sophomore, Grant High School "Stories play a big role in everything. Stories are how we understand the world. They’re how we empathize with people we’ve never met. They’re how we make sense of...

by Josiah OneStar, 19 years old, graduate of Jefferson High School. Tribal member of Sincangu Band of Lakota, Lyackson First Nations of British Columbia "What really inspires me is the absence of my father. I don’t...

By Mischa Webley, NECN Staff Writer After years spent bouncing between her biological and foster parents, between her home town of Coos Bay and other parts of Oregon, there was a lot that Ei-Shah didn’t...

By Jazkia Phillips As each year passes, I can’t help but to find something new to love about you. The final days of June that you have claimed as yours, to me, feel like settling...

By Taji K. Chesimet I fell under a spell for the past six years of living in this city, blind to what was occurring under my feet. I walked to school every day during junior...

By Moselle Dake, 14, Irvington; starts Grant High School in Fall 2019 I was exposed to the idea of good education at a young age. When I was 6 years old my mom started a...

by Bella Myers, April 4, 2019 Big White House (Age 3) One step,                  two step,                                    three step,                                                         four step Up the creaky wooden steps, you go with your short toddler legs Taking each step one at a time.  The small red...