Ramya Ramana Bids Farewell

By Ramya Ramana

To be given the stage and the platform as Youth Poet Laureate to share with my peers such an important message has been both a humbling and honoring experience. In a world where our generation is often questioned and criticized before we are believed in, voting serves as a stage to present our existence and dare to challenge all that is around us. Youth voting is the start of a REVOLUTION and I’m glad to be a representative of such a necessary cause.

Serving as the Youth Poet Laureate was a growing journey, to say the least. To have opportunities to share my words with so many people was a moving experience. To be believed in as a young person is one of the most miraculous and life changing things I have experienced. It taught me that when you are loved, and when you are believed, you started believing and loving yourself too.

I am so excited for the 2015 NYC Youth Poet Laureate and all the places she will grace!! She is so worthy, and so prophetic.

Ramya Ramana was the 2014 New York City Youth Poet Laureate. Her voting themed poem, “It is Not Your Problem,” won her the title. She also performed at the inauguration of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio last January. Currently, she is a student at St. John’s Unviersity. Her first book of poetry, "Don’t Drown Her in the Baptism," was published in fall 2014.