{"id":12086,"date":"2024-05-03T17:41:05","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T17:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.greendot.org\/?p=12086"},"modified":"2024-05-03T17:41:05","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T17:41:05","slug":"spoken-word-i-have-my-self-kimberly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greendot.org\/newsold\/spoken-word-i-have-my-self-kimberly\/","title":{"rendered":"Spoken word: ‘I Have Myself’ by Kimberly Silva Tecum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

This piece<\/i> placed first for Spoken Word submissions<\/i><\/b> in the 2024 <\/i>\u00c1nimo Voices WRITING, ART, & SPOKEN WORD COMPETITION 2024<\/i><\/a>, which invited students to respond to an open prompt. The competition is an opportunity to motivate, recognize, and celebrate our strong student voices through writing, spoken word, and art.<\/i><\/p>\n\t

https:\/\/blog.greendot.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2024\/05\/1st-Place-Kimberly-Silva-Tecum-1.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n\t

I Have Myself<\/h2>\n\t

Gender, Love, Skin Tones, Personality<\/em><\/p>\nWho thought it was Weird.
\nThose are Labels
\nWe are Labeled
\nWhether we like it or Not
\nWe are all placed into Categories If we
\ndon’t fit into Society’s Labels,
\nWe are deemed as
\nMonsters, Outcasts, Outsiders
\nWho shouldn’t have
\nEntered this world.\nI’m used to it though! I mean…
\nI’ve never complained about it For
\nwhat?
\nDecades, Years, maybe?
\nEven months.
\nI never said a word,
\nI kept my mouth shut.
\nI didn’t care if a person who
\ndidn’t fit into those labels
\nDied to say the least…\nThat was until I looked at
\nMy tiny mirror on a June
\nAt Night when I was heading
\nTo bed-
\nI didn’t want to be a girl
\nNor did I feel like One.
\nOdd…
\nThat’s not normal?\n

I Was Born?<\/p>\n

“Yo! You’re Weird!<\/p>\n

I started to think about this since the<\/p>\n

Government-<\/p>\n

The Government<\/p>\nWhy do They have the Protection that
\nWho is supposed to
\nProtect Me
\nWho gave me my freedom
\nDidn’t have Laws to
\nProtect me.
\nFree Country.
\nBUT ONLY for those who fit into
\nThese Labels.
\nTHOSE who didn’t have the feelings I was
\nfeeling
\nTHOSE who are considered NORMAL\nAm I? Am I not Myself Anymore? Do I
\nhave to be Afraid to go Outside And
\nJust..
\nJust to… See?
\nDo I have to be Afraid
\nThat I can’t see anymore?<\/em>\nI Started to Spiral
\nSpiraling down down hill<\/em>
\nDown to where I got diagnosed with
\nDepression
\nDown two where
\nI felt I should go
\nSince I felt Society was already
\nRejecting
\nMe\n

How Come though..?<\/em><\/p>\n\tThat’s not a Girly thing to do,” A<\/em>
\nrandom person says to me “Yo! You a<\/em>
\nBoy or what? Cause That’s not a Girly<\/em>
\nthing to do!” – Says one of my old<\/em>
\nGuy friends<\/em>\nI rushed to the bathroom mirror But
\nwaited for me was
\nA Reflection of Myself.\n“You’re not Normal!”<\/em>
\n“You’re not Human!”<\/em>
\n“You’re anything But!”<\/em>
\nI KNOW I KNOW I KNOW
\nSHUT UP – I KNOW
\nHOW I’M SUPPOSED
\nTO BE FEELING AND LOOKING LIKE
\nIS IT WHAT
\nGIRLS ARE SUPPOSED TO DO?\nI know, I’m supposed to be “Normal…” And
\nyet everywhere I look
\nEvery City that I turn to
\nEvery Place that I see, I see a
\n“Normal Person,”
\nBut yet…
\nWhen I look in the mirror with a Chest,
\nLong hair, Feminine Features<\/em>
\nI want to cry!\nSo I covered my white
\nCloset mirror.
\nSo ashamed that
\nMy body didn’t look how I wanted Ashamed
\nthat I was feeling like this Ashamed that I
\nwasn’t “Normal.” Now my head, filled with
\nthoughts of Myself: “I’m not ‘Normal’- How
\ncome?” Does this mean…I have to be
\nAfraid of someone
\nPulling a gun up to my head and saying,
\n“You’re a Monster!<\/em>
\nGod didn’t make you this!”<\/em>\nHow<\/em>
\nHow<\/em>
\nHow<\/em>
\nHow<\/em>
\nHow<\/em>\nWHY?
\nI so desired
\nWhy are They considered “Normal?”\nWe’re Humans
\nWe’re not supposed to be Perfect
\nOne way or another
\nWe’re going to be different
\nWhether it’s Who we love
\nWhat we are…
\nWho we like…\nI once again looked in the mirror, The
\nmirror that I vowed
\nTo hate for all eternity, but this time I no
\nlonger wanted to cry.\nI am not a girl but I am myself.
\nEven if
\nI am
\nA he\/him<\/em>
\nA they\/he<\/em>
\nOr they\/them.<\/em>
\nI am still human.
\nSure I dont have as many laws to protect Me
\nNor people who support me
\nBut
\nI have myself.
\nAs long as I believe that nothing will hurt
\nme,
\nNothing will hurt me.\n\t\t\t\t\"Kimbrly-Silva-Tecum\"\n\t

Kimberly Silva Tecum<\/strong><\/p>\n

10th Grade, \u00c1nimo Jackie Robinson Charter High School<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Guiding Teacher: Rachel Kopera<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Read the spoken word that won first place from all of our California high schools by Kimberly Silva Tecum, a student at \u00c1nimo Jackie Robinson Charter High School.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":12362,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,13,38],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-12086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animo-voices","category-featured","category-series","tag-green-dot-california"],"yoast_head":"\nSpoken word: 'I Have Myself' by Kimberly Silva Tecum - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read the spoken word that won first place from all of our California high schools by America Castillo Cruz, a student at \u00c1nimo Jackie Robinson Charter High School.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/greendot.org\/newsold\/spoken-word-i-have-my-self-kimberly\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spoken word: 'I Have Myself' by Kimberly Silva Tecum - 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