Writing: We (Are) The People
Writing: We (Are) The People
This poem by Popcorn, 14, of Vermont, was written in response to the writing challenge, We the People: The Constitution belongs to "we the people," and collectively we can make it work for us, argues Columbia Law School professor Kate Andrias. "The Constitution’s meaning is not the Supreme Court’s alone to define," Andrias says. "It belongs to 'we the people.' And when we organize collectively, we can change it, even without ratifying formal amendments. The text, structure and history of the Constitution already contain broad commitments to democracy, equal protection and liberty. Collective mobilization can make those promises real." Read her essay, The Constitution Doesn’t Belong to Trump or the Supreme Court, New York Times, Oct. 10, 2025. Share your opinion.
By Popcorn
Who are we?
Are we men
in offices, yes, that would still be
us.
But I think we are also the boy who got a flag from the lady in the parade and waves it because he loves his country
or because he doesn't know any better —
he'll think about it someday, so he's one of us.
I think the people on public radio when you're listening on Saturday afternoon while Mom folds laundry,
they're the people,
we the people.
The kids who go to classes and try to push out thoughts of the future because it's not looking great, but also try to fight for it because it's what we've got,
they're the people,
and the new robotics teacher, who I haven't met yet,
and the lady who gave me an ice cream sandwich because she was on her way over to the construction workers with them and I said hi.
And I don't know
what boxes they checked
in the boxes they went into
last winter.
And I don't know
what signs they hold
in the protest of life,
or if they hold one at all.
But they're people.
We're people.
We're the people,
all of us,
we the people.
We the people,
the new ones,
let's fight for what we believe in,
because we're the people
no matter what they meant
when they wrote,
"we the people."
The Voice
November 2025
The Tomorrow Project Awards and Honorable Mentions
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Writing: We (Are) The People
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