Nekima Levy-Pounds was nine years old when she decided to become a civil rights attorney. Today, Pounds is a decorated attorney, ordained reverend, and candidate for the Mayor of Minneapolis– but her journey has not always been easy. In this episode, Pounds reads "Still I Rise," by Maya Angelou, and discusses the strength she draws from the resilience of her ancestors.

Later on, we check the Haiku Hotline for your poems about perseverance. Transcriptions of this week’s featured listener poems are available here.

“Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou appears in the collection And Still I Rise, published by Random House.

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