Poem: I Wrote This Poem in 20 minutes

Rogers High School student Donalda Brantley, talks about her poem “Trials Are the Joy of Tomorrow” to The Black Lens Editor Natasha Hill and the crowd gathered at the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Celebrating Black History Month with the re-launch of The Black Lens in print publication, Northwest Passages presented the third annual Spokane Black Voices Symposium. African American students from the Spokane area be presented their work, focusing on the theme: Black Joy - An Aspirational Mindset.  (Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review)
By Donalda Brantley The Black Lens

I wrote this poem in 20 minutes

But my people have been writing our stories for centuries

Words on a paper

Just like buildings on a road

My culture rich in history but personality switches from code to code

Still this Indigenous blood I hold

I stand on the land of which they stole

Weather hot from the blazing sun

Or cold from the freezing rain

Whether it was hot or cold

My people were told

Work, fight and, never fold

My ancestors were Stolen and sold

Still I stand here to share a few words

Words of persistence

The power that I hold is shown through my very existence

From the way that I comb my hair

To the stories that I share

Even the clothing that I wear

Because you see history has many layers

They tried to wash away the stains

But no bleach is good enough to cover our pains

Pains of overcoming hate

Pains of overcoming discrimination

Because my people fought and built this country

We are the creators of a nation

So let us continue to put in the work

There’s no time left to be patient