Memoir Collections
As young students of color at Frank W. Ballou High School in Southeast D.C., Ballou authors wanted to combat dangerous single stories told by outsiders about their community and ensure their own voices were heard. Through the Ballou Story Project, SMP teaching artists coach Ballou juniors and seniors to write their memoirs, which are then published by Shout Mouse and/or used by students in their college applications. Their voices highlight the dedication, perseverance, heart, and joy of their community, and their books are used as platforms for change. Through Author Talks, book donations, and book sales, the voices of Ballou Story Project authors have reached students and educators across the region and country. Proceeds from Ballou titles support new authors and fund scholarships for Ballou graduates.
Featured Book
2015 INDIEFAB Finalist: YA Nonfiction Book of the Year
2015 INDIEFAB Finalist: Child Author Book of the Year
Through the course of a historic year of civil unrest and the emergence of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement, thirty teen writers from Frank W. Ballou High School in Washington, DC came together to take part in this national conversation about race, inequality, violence, and justice. Through their powerful, personal stories these writers intend to Change the Narrative about youth of color. We are not thugs, they say. We are not victims. We are big sisters and sports stars, academic strivers and everyday heroes. We speak out for justice. We dream big dreams. These writers want more for themselves, more for their community, more for their generation. And they are challenging their readers to listen, and to recognize in each story a common humanity worthy of dignity, support, and respect. This riot of voices must be heard.
ISBN: 978-0692455388
Age: 12+
Lexile: 820L
Page Count: 88
Published: 2015
Recent Ballou Authors
Author Voice
“I think it’s a great opportunity as an author for people to read from your perspective, because anybody’s voice can be heard. To have the opportunity to have somebody else who you don’t even know be a part of what you’re doing and be believing in you? That’s big.”
Author Talks
Ballou High School authors speak at schools, conferences, festivals, and more about their books. You can request an Author Talk for your class, group, or organization below.
Reader Voice
“These teenagers refuse to be judged and pigeonholed, offering their stories to emphasize their differences, their commonalities, their dreams and their commitment to education and change. Through it all forms a thread of hope that the new generation will make the world a better place and fight the barriers that keep us separated.”
Story Behind the Story
The Ballou Story Project began with a mission: to help high school students capture powerful stories about their lives that demonstrated their character, their resilience, their dreams. The stories they share are then used as personal statements for scholarships and college applications.
In 2014, Our Lives Matter started with this same mission. But during the summer before these authors began their school year, Mike Brown was shot in Ferguson, Missouri, and crowds took to the streets, angry about yet another murder of an unarmed Black man by police. Later that fall, when the grand jury did not find the police officer at fault, the street erupted again--this time across the country--demanding justice from a system that regularly brutalized Black bodies. Then came Eric Garner. Then Tamir Rice. John Crawford. Sean Bell.
It became clear that this was a historic time and a new chapter in our country’s ongoing Civil Rights Movement. These writers wanted to be part of it, to have a voice in this powerful national conversation about race, inequality, violence, and justice. So we re-focused the project’s mission and connected to a Movement. And rather than simply offer reactions to events, these writers wanted to do more: they wanted to Change the Narrative about young people of color. For them the #BlackLivesMatter movement resonates not only for its outcry against police violence, but more broadly, as a humanizing, rallying cry for dignity and respect. And if you know these writers—really know the stories of their lives—you cannot help but afford them that due regard. For that reason, we decided to create our own Riot of Voices.
The 30 youth voices included in that collection speak powerfully, eloquently, and honestly about their experiences as young people of color. Their stories--of gratitude, of aspirations for their future, of daily heroism and determination--proclaim: We Do Not Fit Your Description. We are not victims. We are not thugs. We are big sisters, and sports stars, and academic strivers, and role models. We are powerful, and we are vulnerable. We are your children. See us for who we are. Do something that recognizes: Our Lives Matter.
And people did. Our Lives Matter was a finalist for the INDIES Book Awards in 2015. Authors were featured on local news and invited to speak on panels at the Library of Congress and the DC Public Library. First Book began carrying their book and distributing to Title I schools across the country. And ever since its publication in 2015, authors of Our Lives Matter have been sharing their stories via Author Talks at schools across Greater Washington. These young authors wrote their book to join a movement for racial justice and understanding, and as published authors, they continue this essential work as speakers and leaders.
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