826DC Educational Programming Intern Zikora wrote this heartfelt and meaningful review of 826DC’s latest publication, Dear Adult.
Dear Adult: Young DC Writers Speak Out
Washington, D.C. is the nation’s capitol where laws are made, political power is concentrated, and the future is constantly being shaped. It is also home to young writers with something important to say. Dear Adult features honest and powerful writing from D.C. students from kindergarten through high school, who ask questions, share hopes, and speak directly to adults. Their words are thoughtful, fearless, and full of insight. It is a testament to the voices we too often overlook, and the conversations we urgently need to have.
Published by the nonprofit writing center, 826DC, this collection of letters is born from one powerful prompt: If you could speak directly to someone in a position of power, what would you say? The responses form a chorus of clarity, anger, hope, and vision. Their audience includes some of the most influential figures in our lives: President Trump, Mayor Muriel Bowser, D.C. Council members, school leaders, Congress, and the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education, to name a few.
And the letters don’t hold back.
“I think you have the wrong idea about immigrants who come to the United States for a better life,” writes one student. Another advocates for a D.C. history curriculum that honors human migration and protects children from the feeling of being “too different.” Yet another points to the cost of college, worrying about their cousins burdened with debt in pursuit of their dreams.
Other letters call for pencils, paper, clean air, and working public transit. Behind these straightforward demands is something deeper: a vision of a fairer world where every child can thrive.
The beauty of Dear Adult is not just in the bravery of what these students say, but in the wisdom of how they say it. Their words reflect lives shaped by inequity, yet not defined by it. “Young people, like me, haven’t had much representation or voice,” one student observes. “We as a country should build positive relationships between the government and adolescents… so people like me can feel as though we are heard.”
It’s hard to read that without feeling a little responsible. Adults built the systems that students must navigate. Adults made the policies, inflated the prices, and underfunded the schools. And yet, the children are the ones reminding us to have empathy, be fair, see dignity in each other, and listen.
As a college student, reading Dear Adult was both moving and thought-provoking. These letters brought me back to my own middle school experiences, when I had similar questions and concerns about fairness, identity, and the future, but didn’t always feel empowered to speak up. Now, as I begin to navigate adulthood, I’m struck by the clarity, urgency, and emotional intelligence in these students’ words. They are asking the same questions I still am about fairness, opportunity, and being heard, but they do so with a bravery and honesty that’s often lost in adult conversations. Dear Adult reminded me that youth voices aren’t just important, they are essential. I didn’t expect to see myself in these letters, but I did. And I think many adults will, too.
The book’s foreword, written by 826DC Executive Director Robyn Lingo, asks: What happens when we listen? In Dear Adult, the answer is clear: we hear the truth. These students have taken the chaos of the adult world, such as the rising costs and instability, and translated it into a message that is hard to ignore: We are paying attention and we are thinking critically.
It would be easy to call this book inspiring and stop there. But Dear Adult does more than inspire. It challenges. This book belongs in the hands of students, teachers, council members, and city leaders alike. Every dollar supports 826DC’s free writing programs, but more than that, every page supports the future of democracy.
Interested in Dear Adult?
Get your copy of the book here! You can also listen to students share excerpts from their letters in this video from our spring event at Arena Stage.
About Zikora Akanegbu:
Zikora Akanegbu is a student at Cornell University studying Urban and Regional Planning. She has previously interned at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the CASH Campaign of Maryland. This summer she was an Educational Programming Intern at 826DC. Zikora enjoyed seeing students grow more confident in their writing.
