Jayceon Jones

I am from a world where expectations are high, 

higher than most, reaching for the sky. 

I am from a place where people surround me with their whole heart, pushing me to exceed my limits right from the start. 

Discipline is key, because my bright future is all that I see. 

Climbing higher is the expectation, because failure is not my destination.

But I am also from a neighborhood where I check my surroundings. 

Everywhere I go, the caution is deafening. 

I am from a place where police patrols happen everyday,

where too many things happen that leave me overwhelmed.

I tiptoe around people who are not my color. 

I am from a world where violence and war live, 

and peace struggles to be our common denominator.

I know that the promise of tomorrow belongs to a world where, 

no matter what happens, 

I will stand up. 

I will fight until the end, 

truly free, smiling, never wearing a frown, 

unapologetically brown, 

and always adjusting my crown!