For the People Who Deserve a Voice is volume 2 of the literary magazine of Burke High School’s ninth and tenth grades. The poems and stories in the book were written by Burke High School ninth and tenth graders in October and November of 2007. Charleston writers Jonathan Brown, Richard Garcia, and Jonathan Sanchez led workshops in Roslyn White’s and Jennifer Perkins’ ninth grade glasses and Kathy Gehr’s tenth grade classes.

The spring 2007 literary magazine, Nine Times was written by the class of 2010. Poems in For the People, while still as strange and wacky as those of Nine Times, are at times more raw, more honest, dealing with more serious subjects: death, taxes, the war; fashion, football and double-dutch jumproping. Ideally, the writing of kids just entering high school will mix nascent adult emotion with youthful silliness, and the Burke students’ writing is a trove of this ephemeral combination.

Fall 2008. Thanks to a generous grant from the Rigney Fund at the Coastal Community Foundation, LILA's Poets in the Schools will continue at Burke again this fall. Poets Richard Garcia, Keverlee Burchett and Jonathan Sanchez will lead workshops with 9th and 10th graders. Our veteran 11th graders will also contribute and help edit the next compilation, due out early spring of 2009. College of Charleston creative writing concentration majors will continue to volunteer and serve as assistants

The workshops kicked off Oct. 9 with a special visit from Mount Pleasant writer Sue Monk Kidd, who arranged for the Oct. 16 Charleston premiere of the film based on her novel The Secret Life of Bees to benefit Burke. (The event has already raised more than $20,000). Sue and Sandy Kidd also arranged for Viking Penguin to donate 100 copies of the novel for 9th grade classes to read and discuss in class.

I believe that bagels are heartbroken foods
because they’re sliced down the middle
So they’re separated, divorced.
I believe the television will never find its love because
Its channels continue to change and flick,
Flick, flick.
I believe the rules are illegal. I believe
we shouldn’t have to work
for money. I believe the war should go on but
spread love and peace. I believe
that we all should live in a condo.
I do believe that we all should be blessed
With a musical talent. I believe in love
Or hate. I believe that there’s a blizzard on one side
And a heat session on the other.
I believe death is real. I believe that everyone
Should have a driver’s license because it’s only fair
I believe in me.
I believe that the devil has no power over Jesus.
I believe in commandments.
I believe that heaven is messy but beautiful.
I believe in you.
      Stevashia Gadsden

I remember the cold ice I had to eat to keep my mouth from getting dry.
I remember the painful sharp stabbing pain that I felt when I was having my contraction
at 4:30 p.m.
I remember getting up in the middle of the night for some mac-n-cheese.
I remember the stinkness of the blood in the air.
I remember the bright light in my face.
I remember being in labor for 13 hours of pain.
I remember feeling the sharp needle in my back.
I remember the razor going across my stomach.
I remember someone’s hand in my stomach searching for my child.
I remember the sound of my baby girl’s cry.
I remember how soft my baby’s face had felt.
      Lashonda Simmons

I remember Saturday morning cartoons on WB 33.
I remember waiting for photos to develop.
I remember my Mom playing Christmas music for the holidays.
I remember Coach Wilson from the YMCA.
I remember running from a dog every morning to get to kindergarten.
I remember the first time I saw my nephew.
I remember seeing the big Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.
I remember going to the arcade and beating everyone in Street Fighter Alpha.
I remember zipping up my Mom’s dress every time we went out.
I remember my Father’s funeral.
I remember getting lost in the Norfolk Public Zoo.
I remember school being evacuated on September 11th.
I remember losing the first boxing match I had.
I remember my Huffy Speedster Bike.
I remember Dennis Rodman threw the monitor on the court after fouling out.
I remember running through Blockbuster looking for a movie.
I remember fish sandwiches from Alice’s.
I remember the smell of my mother’s homemade biscuits.
I remember my Uncle Vic called me Sleep Dog.
I remember my brother won the chili cook off.

      Javon Rodman