Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom:

Night held still and waited

A cry to be heard

Leaves on trees rustled

What a sound of strange birds

Air felt damp, heavy

Smells of bird was real

Like funeral fires burning

Atop a baron hill

Still those birds kept crying

A haunting a desperate sound

May the Lord have mercy on their souls

If mercy can be found

Mamma Tee


Thresea P. Yost is a great lover of art in both the written and visual mediums. She was the 2018 Olympia Poet Laureate runner up and has a piece published in the anthology I Hear Olympia Singing. Her motivation as an artist has always been to infuse the artistic space with Black voices and expression. This installation is just the next step in that journey. She is forever grateful to Sean and the SPSCC Leonor R. Fuller Gallery for the opportunity to showcase the work of Black artists in the Olympia area.


With the encouragement of my mentor Aisha Harrison and under her watchful eye I was able to explore different mediums and feel I have grown as an artist through this experience. Art takes many forms and I am delighted to have offered such. I hope it speaks loudly for itself.