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Youth Join the Conversation Sparked by the Film AMERICAN CREED

An invitation to write.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David M. Kennedy come together from remarkably different backgrounds, life experiences, and points of view to explore the idea of a unifying American creed. Their spirited inquiry frames the stories of a range of citizen-activists striving to realize their own visions of America’s promise across deep divides. Launched in February 2018, you and your students are invited to add your stories to the conversation sparked by American Creed.

Bring the film to your classroom or learning center and support young people in responding on this website through writing, art, and media through these five invitations to respond.

Featured responses

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Mass Incarceration in America

The issue of Mass Incarceration in America by Ayanna Samuels-Francis

Our Forever Number One Fans

Family and community motivate us in life unlike any other person or factor in the world and help us become the best version of ourselves we can be. My parent's immigrant past filled with hard work and perseverance has shown me who I want to be and shapes my American Creed today.
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American Dream

It's about growing up as a Native American in a predominately Caucasian community and being told I don't belong in the country I was born in for such petty things like my skin tone. I grew up around all white people and developed their culture while having none of my own.
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Land of the Free as Symbolic as Can Be

Symbols show up on our lives everyday. America has many objects and items that represent the nation and they all have their own meanings and history.
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What Does it Mean to be Me? { An True American}

My poem is a letter to you all. Althoug it's pretty short it touches on several things in america. I used Repition in this poem because the rhyme and rhythm is important to me. I just think you'll feel it relatable and etc. I hope you enjoy!
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No One is Illegal

I wrote this poem to express how I feel about immigration, as an immigrant.
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How does your family & community history connect to your American creed?

My piece is about how my family is connects to my American Creed. In this instance I wrote a photo story explaining how it does. I write about the journey my parents took from Afghanistan to Russia to The United States.
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American Mentor

I chose an image of Oprah to represent the American Creed because she has been a very impactful person on America. The words I used were, Freedom, Equality, Service and Diversity.
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My American Creed

I think this image represents what the American Creed is for me.

Aspiring Americans

I'll be illustrating my American creed through my dzi dzi (grandpa in Polish) along with inspiring individuals who contributed to the documentary American Creed. My creed is a diamond whose facets are education, nature, and governmental awareness.
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My American Creed

Exploring my family history through art in order to explain my American Creed

Past and Present: A Family's American Creed

This short story is about how a family's decisions in the past has shaped the present generations-- and how it's connected to America's changes through time.

Featuring 1050 responses from 200 sites about tags such as...

creed 230 america 177 freedom 168 immigration 132 american 125 dream 121 family 114 education 94 opportunity 71 community 68 equality 68 diversity 65 unity 48 american creed 42 history 37 racism 33 identity 32 culture 31 discrimination 29 values 28 american dream 26 future 26 religion 25 equal opportunity 25 millitary 25
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As a kid, this line of the pledge made me think of the flag as blanket, surrounding and protecting us from harm.

Sarafina M. from Florida

You accept your own responsibility as an American to stay informed of what is happening and know what you can do to help the societal/economical problems that may arise.

Shelby W. from Montana

Little did I know that the meaning of those words was as grand as the world, literally.

Simren S. from Oklahoma

My family history connects to my American Creed by lessons from home that shaped me to who I am today.

Citlalli from Arizona

The process of applying to migrate to America is a long and hard one.

noor a. from Michigan

America is built on immigration, and these people that move here all have their own stories, that's what America is all about.

Nick B. from Michigan

I organized questions surrounding the topic on how today’s political climate has affected the American Dream and posed it to a diverse audience.

Sophia from Michigan

Writing Our Future: American Creed is part of the National Writing Project’s family of youth publishing projects, all gathered under the Writing Our Future initiative.

Writing Our Future projects are designed by educators for educators and the young people they work with. Intended for use in schools, libraries, and other educational settings. All projects are COPPA compliant and educator-managed. NWP is committed to supporting young people’s writing and civic participation by providing a safe and supportive environment for youth writing, media creation, sharing, and publishing.