We Need Change

School

I woke up to my alarm going BLEEP. BLEEP. BLEEEEP.

I sat up and looked around. I was in my room in the new town. My family moved a lot. So far we had moved 9 times and I was only 13. We lived in Britain, Mississippi, NYC, Germany, and some other places to. 

I got out of bed and walked over to my dresser and picked out denim shorts and a tight dark green shirt. I put on the clothes, brushed my teeth, and started brushing my long purple hair. Yep that's right, purple. I started this thing a few years ago after we had moved again that I would dye my hair a different time every time we moved.

Now it's purple.

I walked into the kitchen where my sister and her twin brother were waiting. My mom set down a plate of toast in front of me and I ate it really quick then stood up and said goodbye to Mitchell and Minnie. My mom asked where I was going and I said, "School, where else?"

"Okay then. Good bye Gracie," mom said.

As I stepped out I thought about my name. Gracie. It was really Grace but I didn't want to be called that. I kept saying I would take my name when I was ready but right know I'm not ready to live up to my namesake. Grace Prewet. An activist. Very powerful words. My parents hoped I would have a powerful voice. I hoped so too.

I walked up to the building where school was held and walked in.

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It turned out I didn't like school. There were only two other girls and when I asked why. The teacher, Mrs. Vans, just pursed her lips and said the others are in their rightful place. Whatever that meant.

There were 25 students and only three of them were girls which meant the rest were boys. 22 boys. Uh oh. When I walked in everyone looked up. They took in my purple hair and golden eyes and I felt like they didn't like extraordinary people. There was a group of about ten boys who looked like the typical jock stereotype.

There was a group of about six people who looked smart but not like showing off smart. Just smart. Not nerdy or geeky. Just smart.

The remaining six people just looked bored as they sat there. The girls were hurled in the darkest part of the class in the corner. There seemed to be some separation from them and the rest of the class. They looked sad.

Mrs. Vans directed me over to the empty desk by the girls. She whispered in my ear, "you'll learn your place soon." Okay that lady was creepy.

School was mainly the same thing all day long. Girls sat in the corner again I got the same warning over and over again. All the teachers called on boys over and over again. It didn't matter that all three girls had there hands up. It didn't matter what we thought. Even in class activities we didn't get to speak.

It was the same for three African American boys, and a Latino boy.

Finally it was time for lunch. As I headed into the cafeteria a noticed 3 tables. They were dedicated to as the card read: girls, colored people, and any race that is not solid white.

I had a lunch box and so I sat down with the two girls from earlier. One of them looked up and said, "hey I'm Imaini and that's Parker."

"I'm Gracie," I said, "why do we have to sit at these tables and in the corner?"

Parker spoke up, "people here are still caught up in the whole women are just servants and that's their only purpose and the whole whites are better than blacks thing."

I frowned. "But people aren't defined by what they look like or their gender anymore!" 

"That's just the way it is. And they don't like people altering what they look like, like non natural hair colors and earrings."

I fingered my ears. Three piercings on each one. I managed a weak chuckle, "well I'll fit right in."