social justice
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I died a million times
That day packed with so many
Pairs of eyes that it dazzled
When I swallowed so much water
That I’ll never go thirsty again
Today I feel griefUnlike any otherMy country has fallen In hands of angry men My mother weeps For whom I do not yet know Perhaps for my brotherWho fought for change But couldn’t bring it
We need to stop laying low.
Patiently waiting for change that
ain't gonna happen unless we
are the change.
We are the change, the new
generation
To come together and make the world better
This is no dream to me
It was not my ancestors dream
It was not something we wanted to achieve
Kidnapping and capturing brought us here
Where we built on once sacred Native lands
Do you care
Do you give a damn
Look around at all this bloodshed
We're not making this up
It's time to wisen up
The evidence has always been here
People are dying
" Resistance-"
the word
resonates
while causes spring
up
like mushrooms
after a rain.
And now,
we have
hashtag
this and that
and the "Me Too"
movement
Clawing and fighting and breaking and scrambling for purchase
On the rocks that cut your hands and your soul
Climbing and kicking and screaming for the top of that cliff,
Reaching it and falling on stones
The city street is their territory
And we are their prey.
I used to not mind it so much.
Their stares.
And their piercing howls.
My brothers marched as one today
They never saw it coming
And I have never seen such pain
Or so many people running
With dead set eyes and shaking hands,
A ban on one
is a ban on all
for the blood that’s let
the oxygen inhaled
the emotion felt
the heart that beats
they are universally one
and adhere to
no borders or boundaries
I am of a white sun against a blue sky, and a blue star against a white expanse. My body is a legacy that spans centuries, continents, cultures, and creeds, sustained by lo mein and latkes alike.
Have you ever been forced to surpress your emotions,
so much and so bad you no longer knew how to express those emotions?
Been told to "Sit down, you're too loud,"
or maybe even "be quiet" when you have been anything but?
Keep your visions awake
They can sneak away
as you sleep
Your dreams control them
But barely hold the hill
You will run from their onslaught
And let them run too
I used to be afraid.
Afraid to speak my mind in an unkind world
That shut my mouth for me before I even opened it.
I learned to sit down and shut up
For The Land:
America: With all your beauty and grace, your Miss United States,
Your pride and stars and stripes and stunning monuments dedicated to (racist) presidents past
Dear society, Thank you for being such a great friend. Thank you for telling women that they are worthless unless they have double-d breasts and wear a size zero. Thank you for telling African Americans that they are only beautiful when they don w
So much depends upon the proper playground pick-me-ups
And picking perennial playground buttercups
The world today is at war.
People screaming for more-
More peace, more love,
more reaching for the stars above.
No more war, no more lies,
no more spit in our people's eyes.
The sinister lies/of the people/Who have never experienced the truth/They see a pride of lions prowling on their prey,/I see them feeding their starving cubs./They see it as an invasion of their territory/I see shivering and freezing creatures loo
Rainy days with a cigarette in hand. No better feeling
Outside water taps on the roof
In the living room smoke floats up to caress the ceiling
While the poet just sits. Aloof
My mind spins thinking about the word, “White.”
About how being white is like being the reincarnation of Hitler,
In the eyes of the blind Social Justice Warriors,
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.
1992marks the yearmy grandmotherfinallymade it to the United States. 2017marks the year she becamea citizen. somewhere in betweenthose yearsI realizedAmericadoes not look like me.soon after came the realization thatAmerica only lovesa familiar fac
America the Lost
When people say “America the Great”
They are almost unwaveringly supporting
An America of Hate.
A nation dedicated
To equality is great.
On paper,
No nation greater.
But if all men are created equal
What do I see in the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Fat minds grow restless, fed stories of the hardship and challenge of older days.
Pride blooms like a plague in the hearts of the prosperous.
"It's a man's world"
Break it.
"That's a woman's job"
Break it.
"It's not god's way"
Break it.
"This is a free country"
Is it really?
The Supreme Court has ruled that it is legal to discriminate against people with dreadlocs
"It's not a race thing" they said, "It just tends to get messy."
Heinous acts against others,
She stands a witness to history's changes
And winces at corrupted exchanges
The howls of her children burn her ears
As liberty bursts into tears
Unable to fight back; unable to save
I once thought,
being asleep was a nice thing.
I could dream,
stay afloat in a world
of my own,
my eyes and ears closed
Smashed windows
Town stores burned to the ground
Streets blocked
Cars as our stepstools
This is not peaceful
Ruined views
Torn down pews
Yelled, screamed, shouted your brother’s name
Sometimes,
I wake up in the middle of the night
breathless.
My lungs seem to convulse,
and each inhalation of air seems not to be
enough for each exhalation too quickly
follows.
What do I need? Well, I need money for college, that’s for sure. And I need more people to understand that scholarships don’t come easy. I need more people to understand what a necessity college is as well.
Gina Napolitano
Cotton
Your crosses are covered in blood.
Not the blood of Christ,
But the blood that oozes from brown skin.
My fair lady, my fair lady
Be a good girl, be a dear
Do the cleaning, be the cook
All your worth is in how you look
Everbach, Helen
noun
(1999-) US writer, social activist, high school student; full name Helen Martha Everbach
I am
Passion running through my veins
Something so powerful
Nothing can explain
I am
A dreamer who thinks beyond the sky's limit
Who measures time by experiences
Not minute by minute
I can't breatheI cant growI can't reachMy aspirations are made in desperationin the belief that if I don't change my occupationI will become nothingMy excellence is irrelevant
What is happening to our country?
A false image of justice, freedom, and democracy
How can we be any better than Russia, China, or even slavery?
Racism, Hatred, manipulation
It's all still there
19602014Makes no difference to meHistory repeatingWhether youFire hose meRape meBeat meLynch meGun me downCan't control the center of the problem#IfTheyGunnedMeDown
Breaking not so new news: a young Mexican boy was shot and killed by an older white male.
The skin on your palm is just as soft as the girl’s hand I used to hold so many months ago.
I find pockets of happiness in the hard rasp of stubble against my jaw as I kiss you once and then again;
Fight Another Hour
By Jesse Yelvington
Screw you for saying who and what I’m ‘supposed’ to be,
Though I hope you know that nothing you could say will ever change me;
Now you lay me down to sleep
The soul God prayed for you to keep.
Sentenced to die before I awake,
My life ended, because of one mistake.
W…I…I…F…M…
Can’t this acronym be a problem?
What’s In It For Me?
Not ‘she’, not ‘he’, not ‘we’ but ME
When you leave, please,
Leave the world better than when you found it.
Everyone deserves worthy health
And to be cared for, but it doesn’t always happen.
If you want it, ask for it,
And more than once.
Affirmative action.
A good idea?
Perhaps.
Equality for all races...
Hate that word, races.
Tells of a division
Separate groups
Of black, and white.
"Why?" some ask
Not understanding
