Congratulations to BC Singer Katie Gannon for her essay that won 3rd place in the 7th grade category.

2010 Dr. Helen Faison Racial Justice Student Essay Contest through the YWCA Greater Pittsburgh

Discrimination Hits Our Hearts

 Equality: “the state or quality of being equal,” is the dictionary definition, but what is it really? That’s what I want people to know.

            I’ve always liked reading, so I thought that a newspaper would be a great way to let people know about racism, and almost everyone has a Sunday newspaper at their house, right? I would gather a group of my closest friends, who believe the same as I do, and we would all work together. A lot of people have no interest in these sorts of issues, or really don’t care what happens outside their neighborhood, so it would be our job to inform everyone of the seriousness of racism. We would design flashy covers and eye-catching headlines, like “Discrimination Hits our Hearts,” or “Justice: Do We Really Understand It?” I would let people know that racism and discrimination are very real, but that equality and harmony are also. Fight against injustice. It is not just about the color of our skin, how smart we are, the things we wear, or how we act. There are some people in the world, everyone should know, that just look for ways to bring other people down. We can fight this, but it will take work. I would let the people who read my newspaper know that they can do something about racism, and that they would always have the support of the newspaper staff. People need to know that looking someone in the eye and smiling from the heart is equality. They need to know that accepting and loving everyone as they are is harmony. My newspaper would let everyone know this, and we would stop at nothing to eliminate injustices and racism. We would promote love and justice.