America, Mother of artifice,

You have stood the test of time.

Revolution, Slavery, Democracy, and Capitalism,

As one of your biological children I can honestly attest that our relationship is truly bitter-sweet.

I love the stories that you tell us about the American Dream and the tales of how hard work leads to success.

It keeps my imagination active,

But, at the same time I can't even name all the injustices and oppression that you have condoned,

You were able to liberate slaves,

but then allowed them to live within the same standards of slavery under share cropping and black codes,

Then once the black codes were lifted you decided to add Jim Crow laws,

Then once the Jim Crow laws were lifted you decided to add racism.

The cycle is never-ending,

And that's were we have an issue,

Should there ever be a time where I should feel scared to wear a black hoodie like Trayvon Martin, drive a car like Terence Crutcher , or even be black in a "liberated society" like Justin Fenton.

Is it my glazed melanin that offends you?

Does it cause you to regurgitate culture appropriation with a splash of police brutality?

Or is it my willingness to openly call you on your mistakes?

No matter the issue, the solution should never be a tissue wiping away the tears from my Mother's eye as she sees the gunshot inflicted wound in my head for simply being black in a white supremacist society.

Take notes America and accept this critical feedback as a learning lesson to better the future for the next generations,

If not then you will self-destruct and be nothing but a memory of what greatness once was.

- J.E.F.