RITA MARSH, 16
Rita Rose Marsh was born and raised in San Francisco, California. She is the oldest of three girls and constantly pushes herself to set a better example for her younger sisters. She is thankful for her mother’s parents, who immigrated from Greece to Detroit to better the lives of their children. She loves to write rhyming poems and raps about every topic, especially food and historical events. Marsh is a founding member of her high school’s literary club, which produces a magazine every year showcasing the writing skills of students. She has several pieces in the magazine and enjoys performing them at the club’s events.
Marsh considers one of her greatest accomplishments to be her vast accumulation of random animal facts by reading dozens of nonfiction books. She loves the natural world and science, a passion she shares with her dad. She also loves reading, an inevitability for a librarian's daughter. When Marsh graduates from Lowell High School in 2020, she'll have five AP classes under her belt, over 800 volunteer hours at the SF Zoo, and a vibrant San Franciscan upbringing to help her keep her mind open. She's walked out of school several times, protesting President Trump's election and the tragedies resulting from lack of gun control in America. Marsh also participated in the Women's March, the March for Science, and many others.
Marsh is hopeful that the world her children live in will be empty of hatred, ignorance, and pollution, and plans to help make it so. Marsh is ambitious, aiming for a career and leadership in medicine, politics, and environmental conservation. You can find Marsh marching with a few dozen librarians in San Francisco Pride 2019 with her mom, a bookmobile, some inappropriate pins, and a few gallons of sunscreen.
The Mexican American War (Rap)
by Rita Marsh
That the US government wants more slaves
More bondage states is what Polk craves
And it’s willing to pay with American graves
But these political motives are making big waves
And after a while, support starts to wane
People realize the horror of death and pain
Writers and leaders rouse the crowd
Those anti-war protests get pretty loud!
Do we need land? Do we need more?
Do we need a Mexican-American War?
By the end of 1848…
Thousands dead for eight new states?
In California, whites talk to natives
Threaten them with death, make them stay passive
While the US army takes the West
Soldiers on a roll, they think they’ve been blessed
Back in Mexico, Taylor’s losing control
Rape, theft, murder, his men taking a toll
Innocent Mexicans are being oppressed
They’re killed and broken, they get no rest
It’s a standoff, there’s endless battles
Thousands on both sides are slaughtered like cattle
And US desertions are soaring high
Mexico’s money helps soldiers say bye-bye
1848, final clash
US wins, pays 15 million cash
Newspapers at home can report what they see
Mexico’s land was bought, not seized.
We got land! We got more!
We won the Mexican-American War!
By the end of 1848…
Thousands dead and eight new states.
We need land! We need more!
Give us a Mexican-American War!
By the end of 1848…
Thousands dead and eight new states!
Manifest Destiny, Americans’ right
To take and conquer, feel our might
Mexico’s got so much land
And we’ve got an army, gonna expand
President Polk is convincing Congress
The people want war, let’s change the atlas
And the newspapers all agree:
Let’s push our border from sea to sea.
Rio Grande’s the border, says the US
Nueces, says Mexico. The border’s a mess
If they can’t decide, thousands will die
All because of one dumb American lie
Then Polk chose the fatal course
Sent General Taylor to take by force
He set up camp outside a Mexican town
The war Polk wants is about to go down.
We need land! We need more!
Give us a Mexican-American War!
By the end of 1848…
Thousands dead and eight new states!
So Taylor trains his cannons on the city
He gets a fight. And it isn’t pretty
Tension breaks with a Mexican attack
The war has started, there's no going back
And in the streets, the people rejoice
They celebrate the president’s choice
As Polk sends soldiers to fight and sweat
To him, lives are worth the land he’ll get
In Congress, only a few oppose
They say Polk's action only shows