Angel Palencia Ramos, 15

Angel E. Palencia Ramos is a high school freshman in Oakland, California. Ramos is an active member on debate teams, and uses his writing to craft the affirmatives for his role on the proposition team, such as proposing instituting bilingual education in all K-12 schools. In 2018, Ramos became co-captain of the debate team, moving up three divisions, from Rookie to Varsity.

Ramos is deeply passionate about establishing equality between the LGBTQ+ community and society. As a LGBTQ+ Brown male in our world, Ramos has lost friends and has been extensively bullied because of his status. He found that his peers thought it was wrong for him to be who he was, some influenced by religion, some conditioned by their parents’ beliefs. As a lifelong advocate for equity between all students, Ramos funneled this anger and pain into creating a Gay Straight Alliance club at his middle school. Now, as he advances toward college, Ramos says he wants to impact the breaking down of barriers that teachers and institutions put on students. He believes that changing the way individuals view the unknown, thereby increasing compassion and equality, is the solution to closing the societal divide.

Ramos plans on applying to Stanford and pursuing a masters in political analysis. He hopes to be a civil rights attorney to further his fervor for fighting for civil rights and for those who feel like they are being silenced.

Here Come a Thought

by Angel Ramos

A hot summer day. You are able to see the sun rays kiss the ground.

To your right, your friends are playing volleyball.

To your left, all you see is a big white fence.

As you start getting up, your roommate yells “heads”

The ball hits you right in the face.

As you walk toward your friends, everyone keeps staring at you.

What’s wrong with them you wonder. Haven’t they seen a trans person of color before.

You start to get irritated.

A little kid comes up to you and ask you if you’re a boy or a girl.

You answer them by saying that you are neither of those two labels.

Waiting for the kid to answer something like that’s weird get away from me. You are amazed that he answers that is was cool and hugged you.

As you keep walking you start to wonder what if the world was like that.