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Leave Me Alone
I'm the purple-haired
punk rocker girl
who always tried
to be different.
The one who people
capped on
for being weird.
Why do you dye your hair?
Why do you
pierce yourself?
Why don't
your clothes match?
Why are you acting white?
Well, here are answers
for your
stupid questions:
Because I can.
Because I want to.
Because I don't care
what you think.
Because it's none
of your business.
Here is a question
for you:
Are you me?
No!
Then don't worry
about what I do.
- Sarah Castro, 18
YWCA Mission Girls Services
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WritersCorps History
"I am in love with WritersCorps."
-Robert Hass, U.S. Poet Laureate, 1995-97
Since its inception in 1994, WritersCorps has helped more than 40,000 people in some of America's most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods improve their literacy and self-sufficiency. WritersCorps has transformed the lives of thousands of youth at risk by teaching creative writing, giving voice to young people whose voices have been systematically ignored or disregarded. With its poetry slam league and award-winning publications, WritersCorps has become a national arts and literacy model.
WritersCorps was born out of discussions with Jane Alexander, former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and Eli Siegel, the director of AmeriCorps. Today, hundreds of writers have committed to teach in their communities, inspire youth, and work diligently to create a safe place for young people to write and discover themselves in the process. WritersCorps teachers make lasting connections with their community and become valued mentors and role models.
San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Bronx, N.Y., were selected as the three initial sites for WritersCorps, chosen for their cities' exemplary arts agencies with deep community roots and traditions of community activism among writers. In these three cities, WritersCorps established writers, working at public schools and social service organizations, have helped people of virtually every race, ethnicity and age improve literacy and communication skills, while offering creative expression as an alternative to violence, alcohol and drug abuse.
In 1997, WritersCorps made the transition from a federally funded program to an independent alliance, supported by a collaboration of public and private partners. DC WritersCorps, Inc., is now a nonprofit organization while San Francisco and Bronx WritersCorps are projects of the San Francisco Arts Commission and Bronx Council for the Arts, respectively. WritersCorps has developed a national structure administered by the three sites to provide greater cooperation and visibility, while at the same time allowing the independence for each site to respond most effectively to its community.
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