[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5496]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 IN HONOR OF ELENA IZCALLI MEDINA FOR HER RECOGNITION BY RENOWNED POET 
        LAUREATE JUAN FELIPE HERRERA AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

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                            HON. JUAN VARGAS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 3, 2016

  Mr. VARGAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Elena Izcalli 
Medina on being honored by United States Poet Laureate Juan Felipe 
Herrera at the Library of Congress.
  The 21st Poet Laureate Consultant Juan Felipe Herrera celebrated the 
conclusion of the first year of his laureateship by honoring young poet 
Elena Izcalli Medina at the Library of Congress. Elena Izcalli is a 7th 
grader attending High Tech Middle School in Chula Vista, California. 
She has been writing poetry for four years. She first received praise 
from Herrera in 2012 for her poem ``Where I am from'' which Herrera 
said ``contained a philosophical reflection about how all of us are 
impermanent. It was just a solid poem where she really touched base 
with wisdom.''
  Herrera made an unprecedented gesture by arranging for Elena Izcalli 
and her family to attend the last lecture of his first term. Herrera 
presented Elena Izcalli to guests and dignitaries at the Library of 
Congress where she read her poem ``One Day'' on April 13, 2016. I would 
like to submit her poem.

                                One Day

                       (by Elena Izcalli Medina)

     One day the border will come down
     And all the colors will flow and
     We will grant ALL a crown.

     One day police brutality will be no more
     And ALL will have equality no matter who you
     Are fighting for.

     One day we will ALL love each other
     No matter what skin what religion
     because we are from the same mother.

     One day we will treat the environment like a human being
     And ALL of nature
     Can go back to being free.

     One day when someone is shot
     Black and brown Lives will matter
     And ALL will stand up to the cops.

     One day we will have peace between countries
     and instead of starting war
     we will grant each other awards

     One day we will find each other the same
     and realize we ALL go through
     sunshine and rain.

     One day we will look at women
     so they are not objectified
     But we'll pay attention to who they are inside

     and instead of calling them bossy
     We will take away the y.
     'Cause I wonder why,
     why this belief is still alive.

     My hair flies freely in the wind
     Me being proud of the color of my skin
     I inhale clean air and exhale my worries

     But one worry that stays inside me
     is the idea
     that this one day might not come
     One day.

     One day we'll all be free
     and proud to be
     Under the same sun
     singing songs of freedom

       *Last stanza borrowed from Matisyahu

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