Its a COMMON issue.........
Jonathan, Frank, Aerodice, And Anthony
Our Rights Are Important
News Station across the Nation
Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Jonathan's Narrative
It was the last day of school. From 6th into 7th and it wasn’t going to be the same. It changed everything. Moving from Tanglewood to Greer. It’s hard to believe almost three weeks ago I thought I lost it all. My grandpa passed from one of the most serious forms of bone cancer. A change for everyone and it was taking time. The house wasn’t in the greatest condition but it was a lot better than what we were living in. The car lot was shut down. It wasn’t right the entire gravel filled lot was missing the thirty or so vehicles that took place here for over twenty-five years.
As I walked into the room it was an emptiness I’ve never felt before. It was a new experience for all of us. New schools, new house, new feel to it all. I walked into the double doors not quite sure what to expect. It was almost like high school but slightly smaller. Nothing like my previous school. Separated classes extremely spaced out, it was all I could do to keep my sanity of the difference. As I walked down the hall way I noticed there was a major difference in the attitude. Everyone knew each other. It wasn’t anything like I thought. A younger Hispanic boy came up to me and it seemed almost instantly we were buddies. He showed me around not knowing it was my first year. Christian, the boy’s name, was in fact new to but walked the halls before in the upcoming days of school and knew them fairly well.
Days later it got easier and easier. I made lifetime friends with all kinds of people. Day by day was faster but seemed just come to a halting stop once I got home. Constant harassment of foreclosure companies pressed my family into tight situations. If it wasn’t one thing, it was something else. Court orders were placed on the house and the worse it got later on. One man changed it all for us. Jerry, the man responsible for the issues, continued non-stop to harass us about the only thing we had left of my grandpa. Day’s passed by where he would just sit up on the car lot and watch us. Court dates by the hundreds were set but never met. We wanted it to be over. No one even had time to grieve for the loss of one who cared about me and no one seemed to care.
School. It was the only thing separating life and happiness honestly. I met my current best friend several day’s into school. She was awesome. She was always open to me if I needed her. She knew about the issues going on with my grandpa’s house and saw that I always stayed up with my work. Soon she was the only thing I’d have. My best friend, Jasmine, made the move one of the greatest experiences for me. Everything came to a screeching halt. 1st official court date and we knew it wasn’t going to turn out good. After about 3 hours of debating and looking over paperwork the court ruled in favor of Jerry. He completely deceived and old man and had no regret about it. Later on in the week packing began and renovation would start to move the old place. Within that time my dad and his brothers looked into the court case and the people involved. This just opened up another opportunity for us. After looking into the entire case it was discovered that Jerry knew these men inside the court room and in fact paid them off to award them the case.
Headache after headache, day after day no other court case would be opened and the men responsible cheating us never received the proper punishment. An entire school career and new lifestyle for opportunities was shut down. Not knowing what to do, we soon packed up all of our things and was on our way to somewhere new which my current house is today. What should have been a calm ending turned out to be the worst of all. In the end my family stuck together through it all through the hard times and good times, as the old saying goes blood is thicker than water and that will always be true.