Youth Poet Ambassador of Allegheny County 2021-2022
Ekow Opoku Dakwa is a 15 year old at Allderdice High School. He loves to read, write, program board games using Python, and participate in paratriathlons. Ekow loves chess and math and is the Pittsburgh City Champion for the 24 Challenge Game for his grade. He was a National Ambassador for the 2020 Do The Write Thing challenge; his essay on youth violence and how it might affect him as a person with a disability is published in the Library of Congress. His goal is to use writing and programming to create tools and resources for other people with disabilities. Ekow would like to study computer science and artificial intelligence in college.
They will know me
by Ekow Opoku Dakwa
First day of the school year-
New teachers
New students
New grade
I wonder…
How will they react when I open my laptop?
Or when I speak?
Or when I ask for help to cut a piece of paper?
Such simple tasks that are like mountains in my way
The thoughts run through my mind
What do they think-
As I look down and type away whilst they speak?
I don’t write with a pen
Because these hands don’t write what I ask them to
When I speak, do they really not understand?
Are they tagging me as lazy, incapable, unable?
What I do know is that at the end of the year they will know me
My talent, my skill, my passion my drive
Oh they will know me!
And they will know that this disability doesn’t define me
