 Hi everybody, my name is Rachel Mbaye, I am an intern at the REIB and I'm also an undergrad at UVM and I'm here to introduce our Youth Poetry Contest finalists. So yeah, so we had a lot of submissions over these past few weeks and we have four of our finalists here today. So first performing we have Matteo Baker. So give it up for Matteo Baker. Yeah, so my name is Matteo Baker, I use he, him or they, them pronouns and so when I think of Juneteenth I think of embracing myself as a young black person being who I am on apologetically without boundaries. This poem is a reflection of how I can hold so many different identities and narratives and while I will always be a part of them, at the end of the day I am still me and my poem is titled Me. When people ask me what race I am, I say I'm love. Two people came together because of a deep love. When people stare at my brown skin I say I'm me, an individual who can be anything they want. Society will not decide who I become. When people touch my hair I say there's so much more to me than my beautiful crown. You treat me like an alien but I'm still a person here that's grounded on this planet. When people mistake me with a black boy next to me who looks nothing like me I say I'm different than everyone else and I'll always be different. So are you. When people walk up to me and start speaking a language they think I know I say stop assuming who you think I am. Don't categorize me. You will never be able to understand my rich history filled with years of blood, sweat and tears but also filled with joy and kindness and an everlasting love. If you want to know who or what I am I'll tell you I am a love, a beautiful non-ordinary love. I am a rainbow so many different amazing colors. But most importantly I am me. Thank you. Okay give it up one more time for Mateo that was an amazing job. All right up next we have Jaden Gomez so give it up for Jaden Gomez. I'm Jaden Gomez and I will be a sophomore in the fall. Freedom is not free they say but what you tell us about freedom. We were sent from the day we were born condemned to a life of judgment locked up and locked down by the inequities of an unjust system. But we this generation is not the generation of long ago. Today we celebrate their emancipation but reimagine our liberation. No more slavery of the mind we know our true history no not just 1619 our history began long before we were stolen from our homeland. We built the pyramids no more slavery of the body we've learned to love the skin we're in the natural beauty within coffee cocoa caramel cream no more slavery of the soul we know our true value America would not exist without black people. Pay us our worth today we celebrate the ancestors their emancipation but today we also reimagine our future and our liberation. Curtis Scott King said struggle is a never-ending process freedom is never really one you earn it and win it in every generation. There is nothing that we will face today that is as dreadful as the atrocities they endured those who came before us persevered and overcame and now our generation must reimagine our liberation freedom is not free they say so what is the cost for us the descendants of the slaves you could not kill our minds our bodies our souls now we will reap the benefits of their sacrifice they have paid the price for our full victory they have ransomed our futures with the currency of their bodies they have redeemed our humanity and today we celebrate them but let us make it clear to those who seek to subjugate us today Juneteenth we simply pause and acknowledge the triumphs of our ancestors but we have not been distracted from the journey towards our complete liberation. Hey amazing job Jaden let's hear one more time for Jaden up next we have our third contestant Kilema Suma welcome my name is Kilema Suma I'm a rising senior at Burlington High School and it's an honor and a pleasure to share my voice with everyone here today as I hope you all know today is Juneteenth and up until this year not many people places or organizations recognize Juneteenth as a holiday and even though most people have open access to the internet a question I get quite often is what is Juneteenth freedom jubilee or liberation day now I really don't mind getting this question I'm happy to answer so please ask away I'm proud to say that Juneteenth just so happens to be one of my favorite holidays during one of my favorite times of year despite the little rain that we're getting right now but it can be really difficult answering this question and sometimes strange because I know that I have hundreds of answers and they are rarely permanent you see Juneteenth means an infinite amount of things to millions of people I swear you could ask me this for the meaning every day until Juneteenth 2022 and I could give you 365 answers that all ring true but if you would like to get into technical terms as to why we celebrate today instead of tomorrow or yesterday you should know that 156 years ago general order number three carried by the major general Gordon Granger was delivered to the headquarters districts of Texas and in general order number three President Abraham Lincoln's two and a half year old emancipation proclamation was transcribed and for the first time the black people of Texas tasted freedom and when 1866 rolled around they were ready to revisit their liberation we're ready to commemorate every day they spent outside of chains so is today a celebration of course it is there's music and dance delicious food and a wonderful variety of performances where we uplift black and brown voices but it's also a day of recognition and remembrance today we recognize how far we've come from the first from that first taste of freedom from the Virginia slave codes from segregated counties and colored water fountains we see every brother sister and sibling we've lost to be here and we celebrate what they could have been and we realize how much farther we have to go before we can rest today we remember every sunset dinner table conversation every parent of a black child has to have to let their children know that the world doesn't treat us the same that we can't always be ourselves because sometimes our expression is mistaken as violence as a threat as a challenge we remember every person who was simply existing in their blackness and was somehow deemed too dangerous for me Juneteenth represents everywhere I've been and everywhere I'm going Juneteenth is every twist and kink in my curly crown that I used to wish would just fall straight and how I learned how to code switch before I could multiply today is every minute of my life I've spent correcting the pronunciations of my name despite knowing that the folks who always seem to trip it up on their tongue seem to have gotten Adiola when I roll with a Giza down first try for a TikTok trend today I remember every night I've spent up wondering how how can I a single teenager in Burlington Vermont change society's mind show the world that my blackness isn't a threat that I'll cooperate put my hands up there's nothing to see here and no trouble is wanted and how despite my racing mind and infinite well of thoughts sunshine comes peeking through my window and here comes that crack of dawn kissing my skin reminding me that I'm still here we're still here and that that is a victory in its own right some days I need to remind myself that I can't change the world with the snap of my fingers that would be nice that wouldn't it or even just a time machine would be quite hopeful so I could go back to June 19th 1865 and make sure general order number three was followed to the tee or at least warn my people that this isn't the end that even in 2021 we're still fighting but what is blackness if not resilient our road has been through everything and anything and I can name more than one time we were almost erased but here comes the 19th of June again to remind me that we've made it another year another trip around the sun through blood sweat and tears we're still here Juneteenth is the way the sun's rays hit the light in my eyes and they glisten like honey in the summertime defining every hue shade of and tint of brown glowing with from within and how when those same rays hit my skin it begins to sparkle like the stars lighting my path through the night reminding me that it's nice to be kissed by the sun and that my black is beautiful because Juneteenth is our triumph and victory Juneteenth is every word that's left to join the truth lips ringing loud and clear with her demand for freedom Juneteenth is every callous on Harriet Tubman's feet and every scar on Frederick Douglass's body it's the jail cells of Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and Annie Lee Cooper it's called it Coven she was only 15 two years younger than me when she refused to give up her bus seat nine months before Rosa Parks it's Ruby Bridges taking her first steps into William France Elementary School paving the way for students like me it's heretic Scott King taking the home of the March for Freedom after MLK's death may he rest in peace it's the grieving mothers fathers and siblings of every unplanned martyr Juneteenth is every time I don't bother correcting my tome so I don't become the angry black girl every time I saw myself from using my white people voice and every time I leave my house with my curls out and every time I sell one I tell someone no you can't touch my hair and every time I leave my house oh and every person who has ever asked if Kelly would be an appropriate name it isn't today it isn't tomorrow and it will never be Juneteenth is every breath and step I take Juneteenth is the ring of freedom in my ears that will never go quiet until the day I die because I cannot rest until every day is Juneteenth until I know that general order number three was followed to the tea so please enjoy Juneteenth have some food sing dance be us today is our rest is our day of peace of rest of soul and celebration before we rise and fight another day thank you okay let's hear it one more time for calamua right now we've reached our fourth and our last contestant so let's hear it for Nala Meyer I'm short sorry I'm really small Nala Meyer I use she her pronouns and I'm gonna be reading my black queen written by my amazing mom who is a black queen herself Farine Paris Meyer no I will not let you my queen question your beauty your warmth your grace no not today my black queen do not be apologetic for the way you show up in this space allow yourself to see what I see soulful in your walk passionate in your talk you are not being too dramatic too angry or too loud a queen crowned in her natural coils with melon and skin as rich as brown soil so no they're not worth it my queen forget what they say you should be or should not because let's be real you are perfection my mahogany queen now let us soak up your black magic until our hearts and souls are full much love to all our black queens out here today thank you all right let's hear it one more time for Nala amazing job okay so now I'm gonna invite all of our contestants back up to the stage and let's hear it one more time for all of them okay so all of our contestants did such a good job and it was really difficult to pick a winner and rank them in order so we're just gonna announce our first place prize so can I have a drum roll okay first place goes to kalama sewer summa thank you so much I'm a little nervous but I'm wanted to say just like something real quick I'm really impressed by all the people that came today and I'm very thankful for everybody who did but just a reminder to keep coming Juneteenth is one day that we have out of the 365 and after today we need to keep celebrating and uplifting every single BIPOC person in Vermont and around the world and keep protecting them because every single life matters including those of BIPOC so thank you hey thank you kalama and thank you all contestants for participating and for sharing your pieces with us we hope you guys all have a happy Juneteenth