MINNEAPOLIS — A north Minneapolis poet and University of St. Thomas senior who’s used her words to help her community heal now needs some healing and help of her own.
For years, Rashaunea Ambers-Winston has shed light on the challenges and joy of her community through her poetry. The 21-year-old even developed her own website, and wrote the poetry in a book featuring the artwork created after George Floyd’s murder in 2020.
But on Nov. 1, Ambers-Winston suffered several broken bones when a semi hit the SUV she and five of her friends were in while driving in Duluth.
“I believe it hit us from the side, and I was in the backseat,” Ambers-Winston told KARE 11’s Karla Hult on Friday.
Ambers-Winston added: “I don’t remember the accident itself. I kind of woke up at the hospital being told what happened.”
Fortunately, all six people in the vehicle — and the semi driver — survived the crash. Ambers-Winston recovered in a Duluth hospital for a full month before returning to her north Minneapolis home to continue her recovery from three breaks in her right femur, one break in her left femur, a broken hand, pelvis bone and tailbone.
“She's fierce. She's a go-getter. And in the hospital, there is a quote that I came up with for her because there was a lot of times she would say ‘I can't, but then she would do it.’ So I wrote on a whiteboard, a quote that says, ‘I went from I can’t, to I did,’” said Ambers-Winston’s mom, Kim Ambers.
Ambers-Winston does indeed hope to still graduate in May with a major in sociology and a minor in business. She also hopes to one day create a non-profit organization to help North Minneapolis youth and help change policy. But until then, this changemaker who’s helped change her community, needs a little help of her own.
“Keep spreading those positive messages and keep having hope for me to recover, because it will just help me with that hope,” Ambers-Winston said.
To support the poet and UST student as she continues to heal from her extensive injuries while also not being able to work, just go to her GoFundMe page.
And for more information on “Lake Street Speaks” – the book of poetry and art created after George Floyd’s murder that is also supporting schools and non-profit organizations – just click here.
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