Cripples

Project Description

In the city of brotherly love, there seems to be little love for our youth. Through their actions it is evident that Lawmakers think the cost of having children in the city is a burden, one that be cut. Philadelphia policymakers slash budgets and programs. When asked about money for schools, in the state of Pennsylvania School Reform Commission, Governor Corbett says there is none. When city officials consider the possibility of budgeting cash for curricula the refrain is as it has been for years, why through good money after bad, bad teachers, failed students, and shuttered schools. The answers could be different if only people in glass towers could see what exists just outside their “high-rise.”

The Philly Youth Movement has been stable presence for years. However, only those on the ground can see them or hear their tears and fears – the fears they express when they look at their lives and consider how society treats them. “If only…” Perhaps, there is a chance. As the cries grow louder, and more of our young people react to the reality of being pushed aside, people respond.

Indeed, recently, a student poem was published in a Philadelphia paper, philly.com. The Writer, Siduri Beckman, is a ninth-grader at Julia R. Masterman. She is the city of Philadelphia’s first Youth Poet Laureate. She “felt like it was part of my job and my duty as a Masterman student to write a poem protesting the school budget cuts.” Please read her words and reflect. Let us ask ourselves, is this the world we wish to create for our children, in Philadelphia or anywhere?