Check out Chalkbeat’s Student Voices project in which Asian American students use six-word stories, artwork, poetry and music to comment on the times they’re experiecning.
Kelly Shi, 15, of Queens, New York, is one student who contributed more than one piece. She shared this artwork and a six-word thought: “Why fit in? Stand out instead.”
Artwork by Kelly Shi, 15, Queens, New York
Chalkbeat Editor-in-Chief Nicole Avery Nichols said the students’ work took her back to discrimination she experienced as a fourth grader in Long Island. She told her own story and added, “In just six words, students of Asian descent and allies shared their thoughts about race, racism, culture, and the reparative conversations that are long overdue in America. Their mini-stories … are heartbreaking, powerful, jarring, insightful, thought-provoking, inspiring, poignant, and all too familiar.”
The students ranged in age from 6 to 33. As Nichols said, Their messages ranged from sad to powerful to angry to hopeful.
Nine-year-old Quentin Tai Murphy of Denver wrote, “Teaming up, we can stop racism.”
