Inocente Zarza, Nombre

Nombre by Inocente Zarza

imagine if my name was Hector? A name is something that is given to you at birth or it can be a mean nickname like something a bully gives .

Or even a middle name or something people can call you by like, “Hey, it’s my favorite person,” or, “Hey, it’s that person I want to beat the hell out of .”

My name was given to me by my father . My father sees me as someone I don’t view myself as . When he sees me, he wants me to be like his father . Hardworking? I don’t know my grandfather that well . All my father told me was that he was hardworking in life . I don’t think I’ll ever follow in my grandfather’s footsteps . If my father didn’t follow in his footsteps, why should I? It’s because all he sees me as is a cheat code to get in the good life, wanting me to make money and get rich so he can lay back and relax while his son works away . It’s kinda funny you know, like aren’t the parents supposed to give up a lot of stuff for their kids? Aren’t parents supposed to give their kids everything they need in life?

Acknowledgments

In our Young Writers Publish program, 826NYC develops creative writing projects with classes of students and teachers in schools throughout New York City . Ninth and tenth grade students from Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School dug deep to explore themes of family, identity, community, and social justice in poetry and prose, from haikus and collaborative poems to short stories and personal essays To Walk in My Shoes is a compilation of the original work of half of the twelve participating classes, alongside This Is What It Feels Like, which captures the work of the other half .

A huge thank you to the 826NYC teaching artists, J’miah Baird, Daniel Goulden, and Jaydra Johnson, for creating classrooms where students were able to express themselves in so many ways, and stretch to try new things with their writing . Your support, encouragement, and consistency helped our young writers tap into their imaginations and memories to produce such moving work, and your care in helping them brainstorm, write, and revise throughout this project was invaluable .

We are particularly grateful to the many educators at Fannie Lou Hamer who made this project possible across twelve classes: Amanda Baylor, Aleta Brown, Daniel Colon, Olivia Corti, Paula Dallacqua, Chloe Evans-Cross, Astrid Gonzalez, Sarah Moore, Daniel Nohejl, Maya Petrillo, and Yancy Sanes . Thank you for inviting us into your classrooms and facilitating this creative collaboration . Your hard work, vision, and steadfast dedication to your students allows them to flourish as young writers and thinkers .

At 826NYC we depend on the dedicated editing and design cohort that make our publications a reality . Thank you to Vanessa Friedman and Jaydra Johnson for overseeing the editing, proofreading, and design of this book . Thank you to Brockett Horne for designing such a beautiful book for our students . To copy editors and proofreaders Caite Arocho, Rakhee Bhatt, Chelsea Bonollo, Alex Galka, Nicholas Martinez, Hannah Nash, Julia Pretsfelder, Dannie Ruth, Rachel Spurrier, and James Whitely, for their careful attention to each of the student’s pieces, thank you . Thanks as well to Aimee Lam for the translation of Spanish-language works in this anthology .

For their ongoing support of 826NYC’s school-based programs, huge thanks to 826 National, the Amazon Literary Partnership, The Jane Friedman Anspach Family Foundation, Con Edison, The Find Your Light Foundation, The Hawkins Project, International Paper, The Rona Jaffe Foundation, The Kettering Family Foundation, The Minerva Foundation, The Resnick Family Foundation, The Yelp Foundation, and Youth, Inc . This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council . The program is also made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature . Additional support comes from the National Endowment for the Arts . To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www .arts .gov . 826NYC is grateful to the many individuals who support our work . To see our full list of supporters or make a donation, please visit 826nyc .org/donate-us .

Thank you especially to the 826NYC staff for their behind-the-scenes support of this project, from curriculum development and the book-making process to volunteer recruitment .

Finally, thank you to the students at Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School for taking risks with your writing and sharing your words with us . Writing can be a challenging and hopefully fun process, and your dedication to your craft and your vision shines through in these pieces . We are all excited to see what you’ll write in the future!

826NYC Location and Leadership

826NYC and The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co . 372 Fifth Ave Brooklyn, NY 11215 718 .499 .9884 www .826nyc .org

staff Joshua Mandelbaum, Executive Director Janna Cisterino, Development & Communications Manager Rico Denard, Store Associate Chris Eckert, Store & Operations Manager Vanessa Friedman, Publications Associate Summer Medina, Volunteer & Programs Coordinator Stella Raffle-Wax, Store Associate Mandy Seiner, Volunteer & Programs Manager Naomi Solomon, Director of Education

teaching artists J’miah Baird David Ewalt Willie Filkowski

board of directors Michelle McGovern, President Ted Wolff, Vice President Ray Carpenter, Treasurer Kathryn Yontef, Secretary Michael Colagiovanni Jen D’Ambroise Liza Demby Jamal Edwards Simone Fraser Daniel Goulden Varud Gupta Jaydra Johnson

Amir Mokari Sheila Peluso Katie Schwab Danielle Sinay Andrew Sparkler Alyson Stone Thom Unterburger Sam Valenti IV

826NYC Programs

write after school Reading and writing go together like peanut butter and jelly . Write After School students work alongside 826NYC staff and volunteers to build their reading, writing, social-emotional skills and unleash their imagination as they play and learn about the power of language . Three times a year, students revise their creative writing for publications that are printed in English and Spanish and shared with families, volunteers, and community members at celebratory readings .

write away workshops Young writers come together in Write Away Workshops to explore a multitude of genres and subjects and to develop their voices . Groups write freely and participate in imaginative writing activities and lessons . Whether it’s a song, a piece of climate justice sci-fi, or a nature guide, young writers leave the workshop with a piece to be proud of, as well as a newfound understanding of the topic, and new friends .

write all about it In Write All About It, reporters from grades 5–8 learn how to conduct a great interview, how to write a classic news story, and more importantly, how to sniff out where the great untold stories of Brooklyn are hiding . We focus on hyper-local news to see how it connects to what’s going on across the country and around the world . Student work is published regularly in The 826NYC Post on 826NYC’s Medium page .

young writers publish Turn your classroom into a creative writing lab . During Young Writers Publish residencies, 826NYC teaching artists collaborate with educators on creative, impactful, curriculum-aligned projects that transform students into published authors . Residencies run from six weeks to a full year, depending on the project . Each Young Writers Publish culminates in a book, newspaper, zine, podcast, film, or performance featuring your students .

write together 826NYC hosts classes across New York City for Write Together: an interactive writing experience that encourages creative expression, explores the elements of storytelling, and strengthens writing skills . Elementary-aged classes collaborate on illustrated children’s books, middle schoolers choose their own adventure, and high schoolers learn the art of memoir writing during a fast- paced and whimsical 90 minute narrative program .

teen writers collective Teens are the next generation of literary leaders . That’s why we launched the Teen Writers’ Collective . The collective brings together young writers from around the city to explore the art of writing and literary citizenship . They are a community of passionate and creative peers, serve as 826NYC youth leaders, and inspire younger students and peers across the network .

dungeons & dragons & writers Dungeons & Dragons, the epic fantasy role-playing game where players craft characters to take on magical quests that can change with the roll of the dice, has a home at 826NYC . A band of adventurous authors in grades 5–8 play out an entirely original tale and chronicle their fantastical deeds in character pointof-view journals, histories, and scene writing . Sometimes the greatest gift is the friends we make — and make up — along the way .

student publications Through our programs, our volunteers work with students to help them create stories, poems, and ’zines . Because we believe that the quality of students’ work is greatly enhanced when they are given the chance to share it with an authentic audience, we are committed to publishing student works . By encouraging their work and by guiding them through the process of publication, we make abundantly clear that their ideas are valued .

It’s a beautiful thing when students write together. In this book you will find the work of the students at Fannie

Lou Hamer Freedom High School

who spent several weeks in spring of 2022 writing, sharing, and collaborating as they found new ways to share themselves and their stories, reflecting on themes of community, resistance, identity, and more. You will find writing that’s brave, bold, and vulnerable. You will find writing that will make you laugh, cry, and sing. And you will find a reason to keep reading on every page.

Proceeds from the sale of this book benefit 826NYC, a nonprofit organization encouraging the exploration of endless possibilities through the power of writing.