Isa Sánchez, a Westerville South junior wrote this poem on May 28th, 2020.

I think I speak for all of us when i say

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired 

Aren’t you? Are you tired?

Do you feel like you’ve run a marathon?

Do you feel like the tide just keeps coming in?

Do you feel a fire within your chest that pushes you to be angry?

Why aren’t you angry?

“It doesn’t affect me” “ugh can’t relate”

While we die in the streets the authorities sit back and celebrate 

“Whew dodged a bullet there” “ha but he didn’t!” 

We tried to stay peaceful through all the  belligerence

I can’t buy skittles 

I can’t go on a run

I can’t walk in my backyard 

I can’t sit in my own home

I can’t write a check

I can’t do a damn thing, can I?

When I walk down the street, I don’t just look both ways 

I look left, right, up, down, behind me and sideways

My senses are heightened, yours can’t compare

Because I have to be alert whenever I go anywhere 

Living life while Black is nothing short of a sport

Living life while Black, you know nothing of the sort

We have been conditioned to be scared and live in fear

But I don’t want to see another mother shed one more tear

This anger, this hurt, this pain, it’s all boiling over

They’ve been drunk off their power, so let’s get em sober

I can’t go one block without seeing a blue lives matter flag

While blue lives use our black men as punching bags 

I didn’t preach ACAB because it felt like a little much

But seeing our young men and women die in the streets is also a little much

Sure, you can post on your story about how sad this makes you

But 24 hours later, will it still affect you?

Huh, probably not, this world man, it’s crazy

Quick question, does your president still think we’re lazy?

We’re not!

We’re tired, like we said before

We see these headlines and it hurts us to our core

Because I’m terrified that one day i’ll know the name that sits at the top of the page

That’s when this anger will turn into straight rage

So until the cops that kill are in prison and not just fired

We will scream, shout, and fight

Because we are sick and tired!

Sánchez said, “For years and years, poetry has been my way of expressing myself when I don’t know how. After the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, I couldn’t keep my emotions in. I let that all out in my poem!”

Sánchez said the process of writing the piece came very easily to her. “I wrote 5.28.20 in one sitting, and it only took about 30 minutes.”

Sánchez said this is what she hopes people will take from the poem, “I hope people feel the emotion and can maybe get a better understanding of how it feels to be a Black kid in America.”

This Summer, Sánchez performed this poem at different Black Lives Matter protests and gatherings throughout Westerville and Columbus.