against racism
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When I was seven I thought the worst thing in my world
was not that my parents fought and my mother hit.
It was that my older sister was kicked out of the white deli
she was doing a project on Poland
There are many different colors,
that I see on many faces.
I see them on many people,
and in many different places.
What kind of colors do you think I see?
My dear Child,
I ask you to always walk on.
When they speak your name with venom and hate
and try to erase you
walk on, child.
When they force you into clothes that do not fit
walk on, child.
I’m finally beginning to come to the terms with the fact
That I live in a world where most people would rather build a wall than a bridge
That dreams are not for children
pledge
page 368 of the dictionary
defined as a commitment, a promise
a vow to never be broken
pledge
recited daily by adolescents acting
You see meBarely five feet tallDark frizz sticks on my headA bridge connects my browsFuzz covers my breastsHairs line the rolls of my stomach
White walls
Question my worth because you can
then drain my essence through your fingers
I am sand
I am sand.
White walls
They don't understand
When I was young all I wanted to be was a baller.
In the streets I learned how to be a shotcaller.
Working on my handles with the steel to be a hitman.
Working on my handles, coach put me as a big man.
In my skin they try to attack.
In my skin I'm proud to be black.
In my skin they hate that.
In my skin is my true habitat.
Ok let's get straight to the past and facts.
It's not easy being me, not easy being you.
They put us in oppression.
They drown us in depression.
It's nothing but discrimination.
They try to kill our brown brothers in immigration.
They try to burn us down because they have the heart of Satan.
What if white were black and black were white,
What if night were day and day were night.
Would things stay the same
Or would they suddenly change?
You see, it's all about the meaning, not about the name.
Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
People born to privilege deciding what is right.
By the cop lights’ red glare, guns bursting through the air
Gave proof through the night, that inequality is still there.
My abcs, my 123s,
My ins and outs,
My ups and downs,
Weren't as easy as they seem.
There was a battle-
A battle for my brain,
America, land of the free
Home of liberty, I would disagree
Full of freedom? We barely make the top twenty
We ask for diversity they say, "We've got plenty."
We fight for what's right,
Equality, it can never exist,
I’ve heard people say, “It’s impossible,”
“Inequality is in our nature.”
Boys will be boys,
Bullies will be bullies,
I didn’t hear the word “black”
used to describe my fellow classmate,
until third grade. Kids joked innocently
and said that I was “yellow.”
Confused,
"He's just a guy."
Just a guy,
just being a boy,
What's wrong with that?
Let boys be boys.
Don't be so uptight.
He just got drunk.
He just did coke.
He just took the car-
They say “make America great again”
Again? As if there was ever a time in which America was great
Jazmine, I hope you remember to open this time capsule
To read this poem, and tell me if our country is still a haggle
To live in because of its unfair system
The country where you get dirty looks for being a victim.
Hashtag, “Black lives matter.”
Trending, but then what?
Hashtag, “All lives matter.”
Seems pretty okay, but…
I find it quite ironic
Some look at me like I’m just another person.
But others see me as the evil half of themselves; the darker version.
They don’t show it. They try not to since slavery’s been abolished,
I'm more than the colour of my skin
You can talk that talk
But you won't see what’s within
Another day passes
And you wanna assume the worse
Yet I try to pass my classes
