Rose Trotter broke from her normal script when she volunteered to read her poem aloud Wednesday.
The 12-year-old Maumelle Middle School student, participating in Just Communities of Arkansas' In Our Own Voices writing program, typically doesn't speak up in class -- she knows schoolmates can be cruel.
But in the room of two dozen other middle-school-age children, Trotter read her work proudly: an ode to the zombie-themed television show The Walking Dead.
"Blessed be the show that captures my heart by tearing it out," she recited, to snaps from the audience.
Now in its second year, In Our Own Voices aims to get more central Arkansas children to speak up and listen to others. The week-long program, held in Little Rock's Hillary Rodham Clinton Children's Library and Learning Center, is part of Just Communities of Arkansas' mission to promote diversity and cultural understanding.
Aside from its writing program, the organization leads workshops for students of all ages in the Little Rock School District and elsewhere. Companies like Entergy and Central Arkansas Water have participated in the group's workplace-diversity training.
Elizabeth Akama-Makia, Just Communities of Arkansas' youth programs director, said the writing program lets children explore their differences through prompts that focus on identity.
"We're really big on letting them express themselves, and the prompts kind of get at a deeper understanding of themselves," she said. "And we believe that in order to change people, you have to change them in their minds, their hearts and their hands. So this kind of gets at their hearts without having to realize that they're getting at social justice. They are -- they don't even realize it."
The program developed out of a project by then-Clinton School of Public Service student Kelly Ford. Ford, who graduated from the school in 2013 and is now the Arkansas Arts Center's director of development, said she was interested in getting children to think about diversity through the arts.
"Ruth Shepherd -- the executive director of [Just Communities of Arkansas] -- and I are friends, and both of us are readers and writers and believe in the power of story and sharing," she said.
Ford developed the curriculum that would become In Our Own Voices for her capstone project, inspired by initiatives like the Freedom Writers Foundation, a national project that focuses on improving at-risk students' performance through writing.
She organized a pilot program at eStem Middle Public Charter School in Little Rock, and last summer Just Communities of Arkansas held its first youth writing program using the curriculum.
"Last year we had 10; this year we had a waiting list after 30, so it's been pretty popular," Akama-Makia said.
Shepherd said children in the program are dealing with intolerance in sixth, seventh and eighth grades.
"I don't know that they know to call it racism or gender bias or homophobia, some of the terms we might use as adults," she said. "But they do grapple with it."
Tess Douglas, a 14-year-old program participant who will attend Parkview High School in the fall, said she appreciates the workshop's emphasis on respect.
"There needs to be some equality if you're going to listen to people's work," she said.
Though Tess doesn't always feel comfortable being herself around classmates, she said writing makes her confident.
"When I'm with my friends, we're complete weirdos. We'll do whatever we want," she said. "But alone in the classroom, I will not say anything at all.
"So that's why I write, because I can make characters that will be the loudest people you have ever heard and will do anything with no fear. ... I can write characters that will climb mountains and will fight giant frost warriors."
Metro on 07/17/2014