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Contribution . . .
BEST POEM (GRADES 11-12)
CHAINS
I feel the walls closing in on me.
I hear the voices pounding in my ears.
I close my eyes
but it is still there —
that incessant, deafening roar —
the noise humanity makes.
I am trying to stand,
but something holds me down.
I want to raise my head and shout.
but something seals my lips.
I want to be free,
but the chains keep rattling —
all the chains of hopelessness.
faithlessness, hate and killing.
LINDA PAVLUK. 12A.

BEST PROSE ARTICLE (GRADES 11-12)
I HAVE A DREAM
Racial prejudice is part of man's heritage — particularly the American
man's heritage. The slave traders who shackled and humiliated their Negro
captives were the originators of this racism. Thus the Negroes, from the time
of their immigration to America, have felt at the mercy of Whitey — as
Judge William Hastie said : “You know, all Negroes spend at least a little
time hating white people.” Today such groups as Black Arts, Black Vanguard.
and the Revolutionary Action Movement (R.A.M.) strive for complete separation
and black domination. A transition is occurring from a search for social justice
to an overwhelming drive for Power.
The shift has occurred largely in the urban ghetto — representing an area
of low housing standards, inferior education, high rates of illegitimacy and
addiction to drugs. The elimination of his poverty, and the discrimination he
suffers in a society which is not prepared to accept him as an equal, present
overwhelming problems to the Negro. Whitey's sin is that he is prepared to
give the black man equal rights — both legally and constitutionally — but he
will not integrate him into his society. This lack of respect represents the
Negro's basic complaint — and the situation is worsened by the fact that the
Negro can do little to improve his plight.
The onus is on the Federal Government to improve conditions in these
economically and socially hazardous slums. Expenditure on space exploration
and the Vietnam War has left Negro rehabilitation in a minor position of
importance. The funds that are allocated to this project are largely spent on
police squads and the quelling of riots — thus Whitey attempts to destroy the
results — and not the cause of Negro discontent. Nobody knows the solution
to such a cumulative problem. More local initiative by the Negroes themselves
and a growing respect for “Niggers” on the part of the American Whites would
be essential basis to a programme for Negro Rehabilitation into society.
Until recently, the most popular method of reform was through non
violence. However, this policy has become decreasingly popular since the
assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. He had hoped that his policy would

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