VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Choosing Sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 65%: “The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39 Imagine you’re walking down the…
“The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39
Imagine you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones in, phone in hand. Just a normal Saturday, right? You pass by the protesters that smells slightly of honey, as the ground trembles from their march. Suddenly, the signs in a slightly odd font are being ripped off their holders, and the trembling fades into the beating of batons. You don’t even turn your head, rushing to turn up your music to drown out all the commotion. The government violently suppressed yet another protest, and you didn’t even care to look at the lives being taken. How much longer can we let this happen? Indifference is the softest baton of all, and right now we must fight back against our oppressors instead of supporting them through inaction.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Choosing Sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 65%: “The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39 Imagine you’re walking down the…
“The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39
Imagine you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones in, phone in hand. Just a normal Saturday, right? You pass by those ‘annoying protestors’ with repetitive chants and the constant banging of drums. Suddenly, the chants have turned into piercing screams, and the drums fade into the beating of batons. You don’t even turn your head, rushing to turn up your music to drown out all the commotion. The government violently suppressed yet another protest, and you didn’t even care to look at the lives being taken. How much longer can we let this happen? Indifference is the softest baton of all, and right now we must fight back against our oppressors instead of supporting them through inaction.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Choosing Sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 75%: “The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39 Imagine you’re walking down the…
“The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39
Imagine you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones in, phone in hand. Just a normal Saturday, right? You pass by those ‘annoying protestors’ with repetitive chants and the constant banging of drums. Suddenly, the chants have turned into piercing screams, and the drums fade into the beating of batons. You don’t even turn your head, rushing to turn up your music to drown out all the commotion. The government violently suppressed yet another protest, and you didn’t even care to look at the lives being taken. How much longer can we let this happen? Indifference is the softest baton of all, and right now we must fight back against our oppressors instead of supporting them through inaction.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Choosing Sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 65%: “The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39 Imagine you’re walking down the…
“The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39
Imagine you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones in, phone in hand. Just a normal Saturday, right? You pass by those ‘annoying protestors’ with repetitive chants and the constant banging of drums. Suddenly, the chants have turned into piercing screams, and the drums fade into the beating of batons. You don’t even turn your head, rushing to turn up your music to drown out all the commotion. The government violently suppressed yet another protest, and you didn’t even care to look at the lives being taken. How much longer can we let this happen? Indifference is the softest baton of all, and right now we must fight back against our oppressors instead of supporting them through inaction.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Choosing Sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 70%: “The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39 Imagine you’re walking down the…
“The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39
Imagine you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones in, phone in hand. Just a normal Saturday, right? You pass by those ‘annoying protestors’ with repetitive chants and the constant banging of drums. Suddenly, the chants have turned into piercing screams, and the drums fade into the beating of batons. You don’t even turn your head, rushing to turn up your music to drown out all the commotion. The government violently suppressed yet another protest, and you didn’t even care to look at the lives being taken. How much longer can we let this happen? Indifference is the softest baton of all, and right now we must fight back against our oppressors instead of supporting them through inaction. It sounds jarring and gruesome, but it’s what happened in Melbourne on Saturday.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Choosing Sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 75%: “The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39 Imagine you’re walking down the…
“The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39
Imagine you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones in, phone in hand. Just a normal Saturday, right? You pass by those ‘annoying protestors’ with repetitive chants and the constant banging of drums. Suddenly, the chants have turned into piercing screams, and the drums fade into the beating of batons. You don’t even turn your head, rushing to turn up your music to drown out all the commotion. The government violently suppressed yet another protest, and you didn’t even care to look at the lives being taken. How much longer can we let this happen? Indifference is the softest baton of all, and right now we must fight back against our oppressors instead of supporting them through inaction. It sounds jarring and gruesome, but it’s what happened in Melbourne on Saturday.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Choosing Sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 75%: “The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39 Imagine you’re walking down the…
“The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39
Imagine you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones in, phone in hand. Just a normal Saturday, right? You pass by those ‘annoying protestors’ with repetitive chants and the constant banging of drums. Suddenly, the chants have turned into piercing screams, and the drums fade into the beating of batons. You don’t even turn your head, rushing to turn up your music to drown out all the commotion. The government violently suppressed yet another protest, and you didn’t even care to look at the lives being taken from innocent, peaceful protesters engaging with their democratic rights. How much longer can we let this happen? Indifference is the softest baton of all, and right now we must fight back against our oppressors instead of supporting them through inaction. It sounds jarring and gruesome, but it’s what happened in Melbourne on Saturday.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Choosing Sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 75%: “The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39 Imagine you’re walking down the…
“The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39
Imagine you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones in, phone in hand. Just a normal Saturday, right? You pass by those ‘annoying protestors’ with repetitive chants and the constant banging of drums. Suddenly, the chants have turned into piercing screams, and the drums fade into the beating of batons. You don’t even turn your head, rushing to turn up your music to drown out all the commotion. The government violently suppressed yet another protest, and you didn’t even care to look at the lives being taken from innocent, peaceful protesters engaging with their democratic rights. How much longer can we let this happen? Indifference is the softest baton of all, and right now we must fight back against our oppressors instead of supporting them through inaction. It sounds jarring and gruesome, but it’s what happened in Melbourne on Saturday.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Choosing Sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 72.5%: “The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39 Imagine you’re walking down the…
“The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39
Imagine you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones in, phone in hand. Just a normal Saturday, right? You pass by those ‘annoying protestors’ with repetitive chants and the constant banging of drums. Suddenly, the chants have turned into piercing screams, and the drums fade into the beating of batons. You don’t even turn your head, rushing to turn up your music to drown out all the commotion. The government violently suppressed yet another protest, and you didn’t even care to look at the lives being taken from innocent, peaceful protesters engaging with their democratic rights. How much longer can we let this happen? Indifference is the softest baton of all, and right now we must fight back against our oppressors instead of supporting them through inaction. It sounds jarring and gruesome, but it’s what happened in Melbourne on Saturday.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Choosing Sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 72.5%: “The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39 Imagine you’re walking down the…
“The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39
Imagine you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones in, phone in hand. Just a normal Saturday, right? You pass by those ‘annoying protestors’ with repetitive chants and the constant banging of drums. Suddenly, the chants have turned into piercing screams, and the drums fade into the beating of batons. You don’t even turn your head, rushing to turn up your music to drown out all the commotion. The government violently suppressed yet another protest, and you didn’t even care to look at the lives being taken from innocent, peaceful protesters engaging with their democratic rights. How much longer can we let this happen? Indifference is the softest baton of all, and right now we must fight back against our oppressors instead of supporting them through inaction.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Choosing Sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 70%: “The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39 Imagine you’re walking down the…
“The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39
Imagine you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones in, phone in hand. Just a normal Saturday, right? You pass by those ‘annoying protestors’ with repetitive chants and the constant banging of drums. Suddenly, the chants have turned into piercing screams, and the drums fade into the beating of batons. You don’t even turn your head, rushing to turn up your music to drown out all the commotion. The government violently suppressed yet another protest, and you didn’t even care to look at the lives being taken from innocent, peaceful protesters engaging with their democratic rights. How much longer can we let this happen? Silence is compliance, and right now we must fight back against our oppressors instead of supporting them through inaction.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Choosing Sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 72.5%: “The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39 Imagine you’re walking down the…
“The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39
Imagine you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones in, phone in hand. Just a normal Saturday, right? You pass by those ‘annoying protestors’ with repetitive chants and the constant banging of drums. Suddenly, the chants have turned into piercing screams, and the drums fade into the beating of batons. You don’t even turn your head, rushing to turn up your music to drown out all the commotion. The government violently suppressed yet another protest, and you didn’t even care to look at the lives being taken from innocent, peaceful protesters engaging with their democratic rights. How much longer can we let this happen? Silence is compliance, and right now we must fight back against our oppressors instead of supporting them through inaction.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Choosing Sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 70%: “The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39 Imagine you’re walking down the…
“The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39
Imagine you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones in, phone in hand. Just a normal Saturday, right? You pass by those ‘annoying protestors’ with repetitive chants and the constant banging of drums. Suddenly, the chants have turned into piercing screams, and the drums fade into the beating of batons. You don’t even turn your head, rushing to turn up your music to drown out all the commotion. The government violently suppressed yet another protest, and you didn’t even care to look at the lives being taken from innocent, peaceful protesters engaging with their democratic rights. How much longer can we let this happen? Silence is compliance, and right now we must fight back against our oppressors instead of supporting them through inaction.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Choosing Sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 65%: “The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39 Imagine you’re walking down the…
“The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39
Imagine you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones in, phone in hand. Just a normal Saturday, right? You pass by those ‘annoying protestors’ with repetitive chants and the constant banging of drums. Suddenly, the chants have turned into piercing screams, and the drums fade into the beating of batons. You don’t even turn your head, rushing to turn up your music to drown out all the commotion. The government violently suppressed yet another protest, and you didn’t even care to look at the lives being taken from innocent, peaceful protesters engaging with their democratic rights. How much longer can we let this happen? Silence is compliance, and right now we must fight back against our oppressors instead of supporting them through inaction.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Choosing Sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 62.5%: “The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39 Imagine you’re walking down the…
“The March Manifesto (How to start a revolution)” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39
Imagine you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones in, phone in hand. Just a normal Saturday, right? You pass by those ‘annoying protestors’ with their childish, soccer parent chants and the constant banging of drums. Suddenly, the chants have turned into piercing screams, and the drums fade into the beating of batons. You don’t even turn your head, rushing to turn up your music to drown out all the commotion. The government violently suppressed yet another protest, and you didn’t even care to look at the lives being taken from innocent, peaceful protesters engaging with their democratic rights. How much longer can we let this happen? Silence is compliance, and right now we must fight back against our oppressors instead of supporting them through inaction.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Choosing Sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 70%: An article from “The March Manifesto” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39 In medias res, you’re walking down the streets of…
An article from “The March Manifesto” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39
In medias res, you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones in, phone in hand. Just a normal Saturday, right? You pass by those ‘annoying protestors’ with their childish, soccer parent chants and the constant banging of drums. Suddenly, the chants have turned into piercing screams, and the drums fade into the beating of batons. You don’t even turn your head, rushing to turn up your music to drown out all the commotion. The government violently suppressed yet another protest, and you didn’t even care to look at the lives being taken from innocent, peaceful protesters engaging with their democratic rights. How much longer can we let this happen? Silence is compliance, and right now we must fight back against our oppressors instead of supporting them through inaction.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Choosing Sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 60%: An article from “The March Manifesto” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39 Picture this, you’re walking down the streets of…
An article from “The March Manifesto” by Jake Plugo - 23/3/39
Picture this, you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones in, phone in hand. Just a normal Saturday, right? You pass by those ‘annoying protestors’ with their childish, soccer parent chants and the constant banging of drums. Suddenly, the chants have turned into piercing screams, and the drums fade into the beating of batons. You don’t even turn your head, rushing to turn up your music to drown out all the commotion. The government violently suppressed yet another protest, and you didn’t even care to look at the lives being taken from innocent, peaceful protesters engaging with their democratic rights. How much longer can we let this happen? Silence is compliance, and right now we must fight back against our oppressors instead of supporting them through inaction.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Choosing Sides
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 65%: An article from “The Guardian” - 23/3/39 Picture this, you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones…
An article from “The Guardian” - 23/3/39
Picture this, you’re walking down the streets of Melbourne, headphones in, phone in hand. Just a normal Saturday, right? You pass by those ‘annoying protestors’ with their childish, soccer parent chants and the constant banging of drums. Suddenly, the chants have turned into piercing screams, and the drums fade into the beating of batons. You don’t even turn your head, rushing to turn up your music to drown out all the commotion. The government violently suppressed yet another protest, and you didn’t even care to look at the lives being taken from innocent, peaceful protesters engaging with their democratic rights. How much longer can we let this happen? Silence is compliance, and right now we must fight back against our oppressors instead of supporting them through inaction.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: "It's a return! A return to the millions…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: "It's a return! A return to the millions of people who have never forgiven me for deserting the screen." Hollywood…
"It's a return! A return to the millions of people who have never forgiven me for deserting the screen."
Hollywood sells dreams but delivers illusions. To what extent does Wilder's film critique the false promises of stardom?
In the golden age of cinema, the Hollywood ‘dream factory’ dominated the US. The historic and enduring reputation of the Hollywood studio system promised to transform imagination, storytelling, and talent into globally consumed entertainment, advertising its ability to develop personal reinvention and fame. Billy Wilder’s 1950 noir melodrama “Sunset Boulevard” exposes the underbelly of the Hollywood industry and warns of the falsehood of stardom and success. Wilder presents the false promises of Hollywood by demonstrating the trade-off creatives in Hollywood are forced to make between their artistic integrity and vision and their desire to succeed and gain wealth. Furthermore, fetishization of youth and beauty and adherence to gender roles is revealed throughout the film to undermine the promises for women to succeed. However, whilst the film is largely cynical of Hollywood’s tendency to deliver false promises, the film does present that aspects of the ‘dreams’ the industry sells are truthful and desirable.
Much of Wilder’s film explores the corruption of the artistic vision due to compromises the creatives in Hollywood make to achieve not only fame, but economic stability, highlighting how the dreams of success Hollywood sells are often not reflective of true experiences of the industry. Namely, when Joe describes Betty being “so like all us writers when we first hit Hollywood itching with ambition, panting to get your names up there: Screenplay by. Original Story by. Hmph!” Wilder highlights how creatives in Hollywood quickly become disillusioned when realising the promises of stardom are unrealistic, specifically calling out the role the audience has to play in not crediting the creators behind films when Joe claims “Audiences don't know somebody sits down and writes a picture. They think the actors make it up as they go along”. Joe suits the genre of noir as a cynical protagonist – but his seeming indifference often acts as a façade for the resentment he feels towards Hollywood for undermining his love for cinema. A pinnacle moment for Joe in the beginning of the film reflecting Joe’s frustration towards Hollywood is when he describes “not having what it takes” and “wrap[ping] up the whole Hollywood deal and go[ing] home”. The “Hollywood deal” is an intentional reference to the Hollywood dream factory – Joe has been confronted by its falsehood and believes his only choice is to forego his artistic talent in exchange for the comfort of a “desk job in Ohio” which provides him with a stable income. Joe represents a common trope for creatives in Hollywood who are forced to trade-off their art for commerce, indicating Wilder believes the promises of Hollywood aren’t reflective of reality.
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Comment on how Malouf uses setting to…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 62.5%: Throughout many of Malouf’s short stories, he emphasises how exploring a setting can lead to the transformation…
Throughout many of Malouf’s short stories, he emphasises how exploring a setting can lead to the transformation of characters. This transformation also includes a transformation of values and psychological development. Malouf utilises the protagonists Andy and Angus to emphasise this transformation. In ‘Valley of the Lagoons’, Angus’ desperation to be initiated into the masculine “code” is evident through describing the valley as a “secret place” for men to shoot pigs and birds, emphasising the idea of masculine initiation being a rare and valued accomplishment in Angus’ community. This contradicts the domestic life that Angus is exposed to in his home, influencing Angus to long for the life of masculinity. However, these values are altered after experiencing the Valley, as symbolised by the “rough tussocks” and “darkly colourless” foliage. This contrast in description compared to the “blue sky” when entering the
VCE · Text Response
Text Response: Johnson’s postmodern film presents a world…
VCE Text Response essay scoring 80%: Using his film as a construction site for collective memory, Johnson dismantles the foundational mythologies of…
Using his film as a construction site for collective memory, Johnson dismantles the foundational mythologies of colonial Australia, exposing a frontier sustained not by civilisation but by the systematic application of violence, exclusion and silence. From the outset of the film, the pairing of wide shots of tranquil Arnhem land and first nations non-diegetic music and lyrics, Johnson deconstructs a traditionally ‘white space’, and deliberately dismantling the doctrine of terra nullius. Concurrently, the abrupt and heavy, booted presence of European soldiers alongside Johnson's deliberate costuming of colonisers as standing out as unnatural invaders, is starkly juxtaposed to indigenous attire acting as an emblem of their place in the world, emphasising their connection to land, and characterising colonists as foreign and unnatural. As such, Johnson examines how Australia's history was built upon a lie, constructing a counter-memory through suggesting that the land was not empty, nor was it uncared for. . Yet cultural division alone did not sustain the colony; it required the apparatus of
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Crafting text, Monologue draft on the…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 70%: Stand up We were born into hunger, into fear. Into silence. Whilst our supposed ‘leaders’ dined in grand halls,…
Stand up
We were born into hunger, into fear. Into silence.
Whilst our supposed ‘leaders’ dined in grand halls, mouths filled and overflowing with lobsters, wines, gazing upon an array of foreign masterpieces; yet their people, we ‘Campesinos’ strayed along, licking our lips with the hope to soothe the deep cracks and satisfy the constant emptiness lingering within our stomachs.
Hidden behind the towering steel gates of the National Palace, they sit comfortably within the air-conditioned halls of El Salvador; greedy hands rush towards their cutlery, the same thick hands which work to erase the lives of their people; hands and wrists lavished in jewellery yet our hands lay raw.
Worn thin, bony and fragile, my Mother’s hands made to break and tremble, heavy with the weight of our Azadón .
“It’s not fair, why do they get to live so well if we are the same as them?...Don't we deserve some happiness too, I want to be happy”.
As a child, I used to believe happiness was given, that as kids we were born to play and have fun, that our government was a stronghold that worked to help others, to provide for their people, to serve their nation and to be the best example.
I was wrong.
There comes a time when we youth are no longer protected by innocence, a virtue which stands in the way of power, but are instead summoned by the evils of corruption to pay for it.
And that lesson did not come gently.
Ten days.
Ten days of running, of torture; my brothers cries weaving through the pine trees scattered across the fields. His belly swollen, patched clothes tearing with every hour, every beg for food and water met with the same cruel reality; there was none.
Our Tecomate left dry and worn, our stomachs raw and desperate yet there was no other choice but to keep walking.
When the army came, you didn’t pack bags, you ran.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Crafting text, Monologue draft on the…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 75%: Stand up We were born into hunger, into fear. Into silence. Whilst our supposed ‘leaders’ dined in grand halls,…
Stand up
We were born into hunger, into fear. Into silence.
Whilst our supposed ‘leaders’ dined in grand halls, mouths filled and overflowing with lobsters, wines; gazing upon an array of foreign masterpieces coming within their view. Yet their people, us ‘Campesinos’ stray along, licking our lips with the hope to renew the deep cracks and satisfy the constant emptiness lingering within our stomachs.
Hidden, behind the towering steel gates of the National Palace, they sit comfortably within the air-conditioned halls of El Salvador; greedy hands rush towards their cutlery, the same thick hands which work to erase the lives of their people; hands and wrists lavished in jewellery yet our hands lay raw.
Worn thin, bony and fragile, my Mother’s hands made to break and tremble, heavy with the weight of our Azadón.
“It’s not fair, why do they get to live so well if we are the same as them?...Don't we deserve some happiness too, I want to be happy”.
As a child, I used to believe happiness was given, that as kids we were born to play and have fun, that our government was a stronghold that worked to help others, to provide for their people, to serve their nation and to be the best example.
I was wrong.
There comes a time when we youth, are no longer protected by innocence, a virtue which stands in the way of power, instead summoned by the evils of corruption to pay for it
And that lesson did not come gently.
Ten days.
Ten days of running, of torture; my brothers cries weaving through the pine trees scattered across the fields. His belly swollen, patched clothes tearing with every hour, every beg for food and water met with the same cruel reality; there was none.
Our Tecomate left dry and worn, our stomachs raw and desperate yet there was no other choice but to keep walking.
When the army came, you didn’t pack bags, you ran.
VCE · Creative Response
Creative Response: Crafting text, Monologue draft on the…
VCE Creative Response essay scoring 67.5%: Stand up We were born into hunger, into fear. Into silence. Whilst our supposed ‘leaders’ dined in grand…
Stand up
We were born into hunger, into fear. Into silence.
Whilst our supposed ‘leaders’ dined in grand halls, mouths filled and overflowing with lobsters, wines and array of foreign masterpieces come into their view, their people, us ‘Campesinos’ stray along, licking our lips with the hope to renew the deep cracks and satisfy the constant emptiness lingering within our stomachs.
Hidden, behind the towering steel gates of the National Palace, they sit comfortably within the air-conditioned halls of El Salvador, greedy hands rush towards their cutlery, the same thick hands which work to erase the lives of their people; hands and wrists lavished in jewellery yet our hands lay raw.
Bony and fragile, my mothers hands made to break and tremble, heavy with the weight of our Azadón.
“It’s not fair, why do they get to live so well if we are the same as them?...Don't we deserve some happiness too, I want to be happy”.
As a child, I used to believe happiness was given, that as kids we were born to play and have fun, that our government was a stronghold that worked to help others, to provide for their people, to serve their nation and to be the best example.
I was wrong.
Because there comes a time when we youth, are no longer protected innocence, that which stands in the way of power, are summoned by the evils of corruption to pay for it
And that lesson did not come gently.
Ten days.
Ten days of running, of torture; my brothers cries weaving through the pine trees scattered across the fields. His belly swollen, patched clothes tearing with every hour, every beg for food and water met with the same cruel reality; there was none.
Our Tecomate left dry and worn, our stomachs raw and desperate yet there was no other choice but to keep walking. When the army came, you didn’t pack bags, you ran.