Dan Budnik photograph, The Menil Collection

WITS invites you to The Watchful Eye Reading, at 7PM tonight at the Menil Collection, 1515 Sul Ross. Writers in the Schools (WITS) has developed a unique program (initiated with the support of The Menil Collection in 1989) in which students visiting the museum write poetry and prose inspired by the work on view. WITS is one of many community nonprofits commemorating the 50 year anniversary of the Freedom Rides through the Freedom Now Project, Houston’s effort to retrace the Civil Rights Movement through educational programs and initiatives. At this event, The Watchful Eye, students will read their work inspired by the photographs in the Civil Rights exhibit The Whole World Was Watching. Award-winning journalist and author Mignette Patrick Dorsey will deliver the keynote speech. Following is a poem written by Brittany who tells us what courage is in her own words.

Power

I am very brave

Who or what can

Stand in my way?

I am fighting for my rights.

I know right from wrong.

I am a black man

With a lot of power and

Might in my hands and

Yes, I have many worries.

I might not be understood

But I know my place in this

World. My eyes hold a lot of

Things. My future is in my

Dreams, and I’m happy to

Know where I stand.

By Brittany, 12th grade