“I was born and put into a system with numbers and certificates and paper money. Where nothing matters and the government enslaves you in a better way. In America, we used to have African Americans as slaves so we could have free labor, but your owner had to provide food, health, and shelter for you. In today’s world, it’s the same thing. Except they added one factor to instead of enslaving one race, they enslave everyone. Money. They now just pay you with money they can print and make sure you’re being paid just enough where you’re living paycheck to paycheck. You can barely afford health care, you can barely afford rent, and you can’t buy nice things for yourself as easily. This makes it simpler for them. After all, you can’t say anything about equality because everyone is being treated the same. You also have to option to become a doctor or another ambitious job. Let’s take a doctor for example who makes 300K as their salary, you will be taxed AT LEAST, $117,087, and on top of the taxes you have to pay at the end of the year you also have to pay taxes on everything you buy. The more money you make the higher the tax bracket you fit. To make that absurd amount of money you have to spend about 12 years in college plus the original 12 years for the original school system. And after you graduate you have your student loans to pay off. Leave the rabbit hole. Wake up. 

“A life without a father figure”

I am the youngest. Me and my siblings haven’t seen our dad except for Lily she saw him once when she was three when mom kicked him out. My middle sister Olivia says “Men ain’t a thing” but I think that she just wished we had a dad who would tuck us in and take us to school. Olivia sometimes goes to protests to degrade men. Life is a lot harder for our mom too, she doesn’t have anyone to talk to, cuddle with, or split bills with. Ever since I was born it was just me, my mom, Olivia, and Lily. I wish I could talk to my dad and ask why he left us but his reason isn’t a justification for his absence.

“Journey to America”

 I am the only child. I was born in Egypt where the grass doesn’t grow in most places and you’d never have to wear a jacket in the afternoon because it’s always 90 degrees. I was born in Cairo, and my mom didn’t work in Egypt. She didn’t come home and complain about bills or how much her work was taking out of her energy. She’d always help me with homework although I never needed help because it was simple. Every once in a while when I finished all my work early enough she’d let me watch the TV. My parents said we were moving to America for a “better education” and even though they weren’t wrong everything else was worse. My mom is always stressed about work and I rarely see my dad. I miss home

“I didn’t do anything”

I was only trying to go back home after a long shift. I wish I could’ve hugged my family one last time, let them know everything was going to be okay and that they’ll get through it. I was coming back home in the new car I bought last week. The car had nice leather seats that you could heat up with the push of a button. Life started getting better. I was stopped by a cop car, but the cop didn’t give me any reason. In a matter of minutes, I was being treated like a criminal for doing nothing, I wasn’t speeding or not using signals, or running red lights. But the cop still shot me and left me there. I wonder what they will tell my daughter.

“Ever Since Birth”

My siblings told me my dad used to be nice before. He’d take them out to eat and he’d cook sometimes for my mom and 3 older sisters. It all changed when I was born they said. The day I was born my mom went up to heaven. Ever since then, my siblings said my dad’s never been the same. He started drinking and he’d hit us sometimes so we had to make sure to not make him mad or ask for money or ask to go out. Sometimes I wish my mom stayed alive and I was never born so my siblings can stop blaming me for what happened. My dad says he loves us and we can see it sometimes but it’s hard to believe the way he shouts at us.