In October 2020 to mark the International Day to End Poverty, people with lived experience of poverty across the country shared their original poetry. In this video, Angela Babb reads her poem ‘A Journey’.

We can see that we’re carrying on a journey

We’ve all got somewhere to go

The bus is at a standstill

Everything is going downhill

 

Do we need to be trapped in this vicious cycle?

It seems that racism is still here

But people still turn a blind eye

Oblivious to what’s going on

 

Why do people judge us for the colour of our skin?

People should be judged by what they hold within.

The shock that people can still behave in this way

Is worse than the shock from a punch to the face

 

People should be treated as equals

No matter what colour, no matter what race.

You would have thought that we would be colour-blind by now

 

People have gone through so much and maintained their dignity

As did Rosa Parks

She stood for what she believed in

And got people to unite

To fight for what they believed in

 

I have so much admiration

And I know what I believe in

I believe in a journey that will justify an end to racism

I believe on this journey we can get there together.

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With thanks to Dan Farley for video editing on behalf of the APLE Collective and to On Road Media and the London Challenge Poverty Week for supporting the event. The music in the video was composed and performed by Jason French.