Is voting the only time you’re able to truly validate your voice?

I’ve heard about the police brutality, the shootings, food insecurity

But turning 18 is not the only time you get to make a choice

How to use my voice during times that are anything but times to rejoice

is something I struggle and continue to struggle with entirely

Because I’ve thought, isn’t voting the only time you’re able to truly validate your voice?

Packing bags of food in white plastic bags with stickers the color of turquoise

Pondering how many kids won’t have to view their next meals with obscurity

Little did I know, that turning 18 is not the only time you get to make a choice

With each bag of food I packed, my voice was being employed

Rather than protesting in the street, packing these bags of food was my form of advocacy

Because voting is not the only time you’re able to validate your voice

I was 17 when I joined a group of people who wanted to make noise

A group of young people who walked for those 17 students, defying the enemy

Turning 18 is not the only time you get to make a choice

You don’t have to be of voting age to view your voice as something to rejoice

15, 16, and 17-year-olds can be the ones to create change in times of adversity

Voting is not the only time you’re able to validate your voice

And turning 18 is not the only time you get to make a choice