Hey APC! I’m Dazel Anderson but I usually go by my middle name, Autumn. I’m 17 and I was born and raised in Evanston, a smaller city north of Chicago. I come from a multicultural background, as my father is black and white and my mother is Filipino. I created this first piece for my history class portfolio. We were learning about the plight of indigenous people in the context of the United States’ inception. Indigenous voices are often marginalized and neglected and have been throughout history. Because of this, I wanted to make a creative piece that expressed this. The format of the writing is to call awareness to how the teaching of history has been whitewashed by oppressors, and the truth is only an afterthought.
Origin
By Autumn Anderson
There were the 13 colonies in the beginning
There were our founding fathers who built this country up from nothing
There was the inception of the idea of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
There were augmented trading possibilities due to Indian cooperation
There was then the savage behavior of the Indians
There were more civilized name changes made to the Indians’ names
There were doctrines designed to set the foundation for America’s greatness
There were various ways in which different Europeans would help the Indians
No matter what our settlers endured,
they emerged victoriously.
Even when faced with the tyranny of an empire,
We became America the beautiful.
˙ǝɔuǝnbǝsuoɔ pǝuᴉɯɹǝʇǝpǝɹd ǝɥʇ ǝɹǝʍ ʎǝɥʇ
‘ǝpᴉs ɐ ɟo ǝɔᴉoɥɔ ǝɥʇ ɥʇᴉʍ pǝɔɐɟ uǝɥʍ uǝʌƎ
˙puǝ ƃuᴉsol ǝɥʇ uo sʎɐʍlɐ ǝɹǝʍ ʎǝɥʇ
‘pǝsᴉɯoɹd pɐɥ ʇuǝɯuɹǝʌoƃ sᴉɥʇ ʇɐɥʍ ɹǝʇʇɐɯ oN
pǝʎɐɹʇǝq ǝɹǝʍ ʎǝɥʇ ‘ɯǝɥʇ ɥʇᴉʍ uoᴉʇɔɐɹǝʇuᴉ uɐǝdoɹnƎ lɐᴉʇᴉuᴉ ǝɥʇ ɹǝʇʇɐɯ ou ʇɐɥʇ ǝʇɐɟ ƃuᴉɯǝǝs ǝɥʇ sɐʍ ǝɹǝɥ丄
puɐl sᴉɥʇ ɟo sǝldoǝԀ ʇsɹᴉℲ ǝɥʇ ǝʇɐƃǝɾqns oʇ ǝɔɐld uᴉ ʇǝs sǝuᴉɹʇɔop ǝɹǝʍ ǝɹǝɥ丄 ƃuᴉɯɐuǝɹ ɥʇᴉʍ ƃuᴉʇɹɐʇs ‘ǝɹnʇlnɔ snouǝƃᴉpuᴉ ǝsɐɹǝ puɐ ǝzᴉuoloɔ oʇ sʇdɯǝʇʇɐ ǝɹǝʍ ǝɹǝɥ丄 sǝᴉɔuǝpuǝdǝp ǝsǝɥʇ ɟo ǝɔuǝnbǝsuoɔ ɐ sɐ ƃuᴉʇɥƃᴉɟuᴉ sɐʍ ǝɹǝɥ丄
sǝpɐɹʇ snouǝƃᴉpuᴉ uᴉ ƃuᴉuǝʌɹǝʇuᴉ suɐǝdoɹnƎ oʇ ǝnp pǝdolǝʌǝp sǝᴉɔuǝdǝp ʇuɐuƃᴉlɐɯ ǝɹǝʍ ǝɹǝɥ丄 ʎʇɹǝdoɹd ɟo ʇᴉnsɹnd ǝɥʇ puɐ ‘ʎʇɹǝqᴉl ‘ǝɟᴉl oʇ ʇɥƃᴉɹ ǝɥʇ ɟo ǝɔuɐᴉlddɐ ǝʌᴉʇɔǝlǝs sɐʍ ǝɹǝɥ丄 uoᴉʇnʇᴉʇsǝp puɐ ǝsɐǝsᴉp ɟo lɐʌᴉɹɹɐ ǝɥʇ sɐʍ ǝɹǝɥ丄
suoᴉʇɐlndod snouǝƃᴉpuᴉ xǝldɯoɔ puɐ ƃuᴉʌᴉɹɥʇ ǝɹǝʍ ǝɹǝɥ丄