On January 19, there were women's marches all around the country. These women came out to speak their minds and be proud of being female. My mom was one of the coordinators of the march, and it was established that I would be speaking at the Women's March on New Jersey in Trenton.

Reciting a poem I wrote myself. This poem was a look into my life as a woman and how society has treated me. I used the intersectionality of being a woman that is not very feminine.

Sadly my Saturday was not spent marching, but instead in a car on the way back to school. Governor Phil Murphy had declared a state of emergency for all of New Jersey that would start at 12 o'clock. Sadly, that would be right in the middle of the march.

So that officially made the march supposed to happen in New Jersey canceled. The march still happened in other places though, I saw posts from my friends taken at the marches they attended (in other places in the world). I thought that I would be a good idea to share my poem I was saying somewhere, so here is what I would've said at the Women's March.

80 cents for every dollar a man makes.

You tell me to work harder,

To make my ideas sharper,

And it's a piece of cake.

But how easy is the cake when I don't have the recipe?

How easy it is to get a job when you know my name and not the rest of me.

My name is Frankie, commonly known as the name of a boy.

The opposite of estrogen, domestic, feminine, and coy.

I was the girl that liked action figures, I played sports, I liked to win.

I wasn't the girl that wore skirts, liked pink, and I wasn't thin.

You see in school I got picked on because of how I acted and how I lived.

I didn't shave my arms or my legs,

People often made jokes I was the hairiest boy in our grade.

Was I less of a woman because I didn't wear makeup or shave?

Or was I more of a woman because I never backed down or caved?

I know strong women who have gone through hell and back without showing any fear,

So how come the minuscule comments could bring me to tears?

I have been told to stay quiet,

I've been told to stand down.

I've been told to keep my head on my shoulders,

And my feet on the ground.

But I like being in the clouds and letting my ideas soar.

I like that I have strong women behind me, who tell me to chase more.

I strive for greatness, I want to be the best.

I won't let someone differ me just because I have more weight on my chest.

I'm not like most girls, or so I've been told.

But I think they just never noticed how all girls are bold.

We speak our truths and fight for what's right,

It should never be a matter of skin whether black or white.

Black, white, brown and all colors in between,

At the end of the day we should all be on the same team.

I think all women are special, all women unique.

I think all women deserve the power to speak.

To say what they mean and mean what they say.

To know their words have traveled and reached someone that day.

From The Women's March Last Year in BaltimoreAuthor's photo

Thanks for enjoying this poem that nobody asked for. I hope you enjoyed it and maybe you learned a little bit more about me.