• Bullying and Jealousy Made Me Into Someone I Didn’t Like

  by S.G.

  Names have been changed.  Being bullied and losing a friend made me loud and obnoxious. By high school, when I realized what I had become, it was hard to change. It started in elementary school. In kindergarten I had a good friend, Sam, and we did everything together.

• Poverty Made Me Ashamed and Secretive

  by Parris Smith

  I was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. Although we lived in an area that was considered a ghetto, our lives seemed luxurious to me. I thought our house was a castle, since it had three floors that towered over the one-story houses in the neighborhood.

• Living Two Lives

  by Enoch Naklen

  When I was in 8th grade, my family had to move from Brooklyn to live with a family friend in Jersey City because we could not afford the rent. It was me, my mother, and my 12-year-old brother. We were provided one small bedroom, a tight living area with a half kitchen, and a dingy bathroom.

• Learning to Speak Up

  by William Lohier

  Names have been changed. Surviving while Black in a predominantly non-Black school is an ongoing exercise in anticipating the consequences of your actions. From the time I started high school, I frequently heard racist and other offensive language, and I made constant calculations about whether or not to challenge it.

• TIPS FOR TEENS: Alex Explains Why He Wears a Mask

  by Alex Jimenez

  Alex Jimenez explains why he, a healthy young man, wears a mask whenever he goes outside. Be Like Alex!