Resilience I Poem By Arianna, 13, Las Vegas
Arianna, a 13-year-old from Las Vegas, reflects on the enduring legacy of trauma, poverty, and resilience within a marginalised community, illustrating the struggles faced due to systemic oppression across generations.
Resilience
By Arianna Shaprow
We were never freed.
after the Emancipation Proclamation.
Never freed,
from generational trauma,
and pain.
Oppression,
Segregation,
Stereotypes,
and racism.
Poverty naturally followed,
Haunting us…
A never-ending maze
with no exit,
only dead ends.
My relatives suffered
rat bites and tuberculosis as babies;
gunshot wounds and addiction as adults
Surviving paycheck to paycheck.
Food stamps
welfare.
Evictions and discrimination.
13 of my aunts and uncles,
lived in a tiny apartment.
5 slept on a single, soiled mattress,
a drumline of tragedies.
The knowledge of our history,
was stripped away from us,
buried deep in our family’s past,
It remains a mystery…
One thing that will never
be taken away from us
Is our culture.
We have created
a rich culture.
Through centuries of oppression,
our coping mechanisms
soothed us,
comforting melodies,
gospel,
jazz,
blues,
and soul.
What do we have?
We have our imagination.
We redefine and reframe.
To make us sane,
When I am fearful.
I remember being courageous,
I remember that I have ancestors,
who were beaten and lynched.
My ancestors were
Slaves,
Survivors,
Refugees,
Migrants,
This is my lineage,
This is my history,
We are resilient,
Resilient survivors.
***
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