'Blacks don't belong here': I've heard this argument 1,000 times

Remix Your Life poet Jaylyn Burns, who grew up in Oakland, imagines a conflict between young people and police officers in a city park. "I can feel something bad coming... I'm hoping and waiting for them to leave, but more young men show up. They start arguing about race, and how blacks don't belong here. I've heard this argument 1,000 times before. Someone throws a punch. Blood's racing down the young man's face, and I know what's going to happen next." This poetic story, about a girl witnessing a violent — sadly familiar — incident in her neighborhood, can be found on Youth Radio.