This week Room 19 has read about Amiri  Baraka who was an activist in the Black Arts movement of the 1960's.  He wrote several poems and plays. 

After finishing our reading we read one of his poems about how African-Americans were treated and what they went through as slaves.

This was the inspiration for our writing:




I touch the cold and dirty chains surrounding me
I watch through a barred window
at the black,
collecting water, herding sheep and getting beaten.

I long for my family
though far away
they can't be reached
As night falls I scrub the floors
until they glisten and gleam.

I settle on a stone floor
and close my eyes
I think of freedom
of being white
As the darkness fades and sunlight comes...

More demands fill the air
along with cries of fear
I watch as everything dies
along with my hope
and wait for my time to be over.

By Holly Reid