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Characters: Nigel and Keron, brothers
Setting: Their home in Brooklyn

Keron: Are you voting this year?

Nigel: No.

Keron: Why not?

Nigel: I don’t think my vote matters to this country. We are still living in fear for our lives. Today, you have Black people scared of the cops.

Keron: I agree about Black people getting arrested or shot in this country. But I don’t agree with not voting! This is America. We have a right to vote!

Nigel: As a Black man, I don’t want to get locked up. I don’t want to die young. I just want to be able to see my mother, go to work, and get married! When I see a cop car, I get nervous. I want the police to see me as a man who is going to work, not a boy who is going to rob a store. America needs to change now!

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Nigel Prince is 42 years old and studying for his High School Equivalency exam with tutor Gail Taylor at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Eastern Parkway Adult Learning Center. He writes, “I want to prove to myself that I can learn to read, write, and improve my knowledge, despite my speech and language disabilities. I am getting through it with the help and patience of all my teachers and the library.”