Black Lens staff
The following is a student reflection from a recent Spring Break pilgrimage to Washington D.C. attended by Black Student Union officers from two local high schools and members of Strong Women Achieving Greatness (SWAG). This trip was sponsored by: The Way to Justice, The Spokane Branch of the NAACP, SWAG, Mentoring Today’s Youth, and American Ironworks. Over a week, students toured the National Mall, The U.S. Capitol Building, The National Museum of African American History and Culture, and Howard University.
Weeds Into Flowers
Written by: Jetaime Thomas
Ferris High School, 12th Grade
I carry ancient resentment
I possess a sort of melancholy brain and difficulty processing my ancestor’s grief along with my own
My head is like a slideshow
Replaying horrific stories that are a part of my history
The history I’ve spent my entire life trying to understand
Trying to realize how my people went from mathematicians and astronomers
To servants viewed as uneducated and ignorant
From talented artists, and agriculturalists.
To being essentially nothing
From explorers and artisans
To the corners of plantations
I want emancipation
From negative stereotypes
That leads to graves
The waves they hit us
Like a bus
It split us
Contempt to the oppressor
We were seen as lesser
It’s in my blood to challenge rules
And simply come out better
A rose from the concrete
Survived the bluest eyes
Constantly torn down and still like dust we rise
Forced to rebel
Gone through hell
Taking down faulty systems one colonizer at a time
Yeah, imma bet a dime
On the people we’ve become
We came from the slums
And still we succeed
Grown weeds into flowers
I’m ‘bout to devour
The world – it is ours
Built on our backs
Sense it lacks
Yet we can take back our power
In education and community
In peace and unity
In happiness and support