race
Learn more about other poetry terms
For crying out loud
Due to the outcome
I was not particularly proud
For more than two centuries, election days go and come
Sometimes when you hit the hard rock
Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! You must bounce back
Never leave without a tough fight
That’s the correct thing to do. That’s right
They consume hot dogs
Too
Like you
But they don’t eat dogs
Never, ever
They do not eat cats
They do not eat pets
Never, never.
Immigrants eat wild boars, wild hogs
Under The Bridge In Del Rio, Texas USA
Under the bridge in Del Rio are stopped, stuck, stationed
What race? Human race?
Stop talking about race
Start talking about space
Start talking about grace
Start talking about behavior
Keine Ratte steht tatsächlich über dem Gesetz
Gerechtigkeit muss blind, fair, gleich und roh sein
Für alle, in einer demokratischen Gesellschaft
No racist rat is indeed above the law
Justice must be blind, fair, equal and raw
For all, in a democratic society
Woman, woman, oh sweet womanMy love, my crib, my tokenIn my daily diaryEvery day is your journeyYou are my soul, my pillarI cherish you everydayAnd I love you, my flower.
The history of Black People,And all of our People should be celebratedYear-round: every day, week, month, and decade.The celebration must go on unabated,All the time. The first couple,
In the USA, Black History month is celebrated
In February, the month with the shortest days
The least racist person is a racistThe least fascist person is a fascistThe least criminal is a murdererThe least sinner is a big sinner.
Sotto il ponte a Del Rio sono fermi, bloccati, appostati, accerchiati
Ammucchiati migliaia di migranti Haitiani, non Ucraini
Sous le pont De Del Rio sont arrêtés, coincés, entassés
Amassés des milliers d'Haïtiens migrants, pas d'Ukrainiens
Sob a ponte Del Rio eles estão parados, presos, estacionados
Milhares de imigrantes Haitianos, não Ucranianos
Francamente, se fossem os últimos, não seriam penalizados
Blaming the white men
Is the idea, the insane ideas
That many of you have in your eyes
Don’t smile with me if you don’t want to
Because I am not a mirror
Don’t be like a bluffer who gives me a black smile
Anybody, who is struggling,
Is my people
The one with the color purple,
Who will one day earn and own the ring.
The Sum Being called N-Word How many times? Being underestimated because I am a Black womanSeveral timesSnubbed because I am BlackToo many times Ignored because I am a womanLots of timesA look of surprise and a frown when I say that my mother read
America is beautiful, great and wonderfulEadem opera, she is ugly, pitiful and dreadfulIn regards to the mistreatments of the Native AmericansThe African Americans and other minorities
It is Good Friday
Remember, remember
When, for Jesus, everything was nasty and sour
Democracy is about freedom of speechAnarchy is, without a doubt, the oppositeOf democracy, liberty and freedom to wishTo hope, to dream and to confront defeat.
These are not events that took place very far in the past
These are obviously ongoing racial gaffes and contrasts
Where human beings are bombarded and mistreated
Tell me more about democracy
Nobody is a fool
Tell me more about dichotomy
Go ahead! I am cool
I love; I really love your voice and your dictionRecite me a poem in an unknown languageI don't give a darn about the pronunciationUndress the words; I love them when they're naked.
Instead of bombing, shelling and trashing our neighbors
Let’s all do the highly popular fun ‘Jeru’ dance
Liberty has been taken hostage, abducted in many parts
Of the world
Freedom is often smothered, suffocated in many hearts
In this world
Yes, I am thinking about the human race
Please note that race has ‘four letters’
And most four-letter words
Can cause problems, ills, havocs and wars
That is what the human race has become,
A mirage of too many a face,
With
Broken down dreams
And
Craved fantasies.
You would have to see or witness this to believe it
These horses were smarter than the border patrol agents
Because the smart animals avoided charging these poor migrants
I am
a revolutionary, fighting
for the ones who are
afraid, for the ones who are
unable, for the ones who are
here, and for the ones who are
not yet born.
I am
Some run fast, some run slow
Some fall behind and don't know which way to go
The scenery changes from seeing the track straight ahead
I was born into privilege and racism.
Of this, I am not proud.
The time is now to use my voice
and scream out clear and loud.
The centuries of suffering,
I wish I could take them all back.
A dove, a lilly, and a coconut, heard a “white” person this morning, pounding others and its chest, pounding into heads that their skins mean the best …
ghet shades
princely blues hues
culture frames divide
chromas, genders
even senses
Beautiful black nurturing Mother,
Throughout history there is no other,
It's confusing being mixed.What I look like, and my experiences,they don't line up with a typical anything.I am not European-American,I am not Puerto Rican,I am an amalgamation of these things, and more.
You Know ... " The Saga Begins "...
Is A Lyrical Trip Rapped By RAKIM... !!!
A TRUE Lyrical King...
But The Saga I Depict is FAR From... Heroic... !!!
I’ve seen a dead man
Not at the hands of a corner thug’s glock
But at the end of a white man’s shotgun
Justified by self defense
When a fence separated them
Some Think That I'm... " BRAVE "... !!!
To Say The Things I Say About The Ways We Are... "ENSLAVED"...
By Those Who LIVE By Getting Rich...
OFF People Who SLAVE EVERY SINGLE DAY... !!!
For years we have faced pain, suffering, torment, and death
We have had to fight through the worst of conditions
We have had to fight through bullying from all ends because we are darker than most
Is the color of my skin a crime?
As if I am not alive,
Dear God, all I am trying to do is survive
Because you never know when it’s time to say goodbye.
My people have felt deprived
It’s time to testify,
Is the color of my skin a crime?
As if I am not alive,
Dear God, all I am trying to do is survive
Because you never know when it’s time to say goodbye.
My people have felt deprived
It’s time to testify,
Is the color of my skin a crime?
As if I am not alive,
Dear God, all I am trying to do is survive
Because you never know when it’s time to say goodbye.
My people have felt deprived
It’s time to testify,
I am the revolution
My existence is our context
My existence is the very thing they were afraid of.
I've done nothing wrong
But breathe the air I thought was free
And walk in a world I assumed was safe.
For You
If I tore apart my body
For you
And you examined my organs
Tested my blood
Ripped my skin
Piece by piece
I am not black stop calling me that.
I am that I am before words we’re create by those who forgot what I know now what they lack.
I am not black don’t you call me that.
Hot topic time, what about race?
It’s a great moment to talk about the issue staring us in our face.
You see, during the Great Depression Black people had it the worst.
A badgeA manAn officerOr a murderer?A badgeA uniformSafety?No, death.A man on the floorA kneeA pleeFor a mother, for lifeAnd insteadA badgeA man
He wakes up.
And starts to get ready for his day.
He brushes his teeth
Because is mama always said she wouldn’t let any son of hers go out with booty breath.
You don’t see color?
Then you must have a real hard time with traffic lights.
But no, what you really mean is
You choose
Not
Ya Know I Appreciate The Fact …
That Sometimes... Being Black …
Can Lead To Attacks And That’s JUST THAT … !!!
Some From Whites And Other Skin Types …
And Some From... Blacks … ?!?
So ..... " Coronas All Around ! " ...
Is Now The NEW Sound ... !!!
But I DON'T MEAN ... BEERS ... !!!
I’ve traveled to many countries,
Met people white black and brown,
I’ve seen beautiful locales,
I've Landed In Philly But it AIN'T Been ... " Jiggy " ... !!!
The Same Ol' Same Because of My RACE ... ?!?
NO Time To Embrace ... A Different Coloured Face ...
UNLESS You've Got CHAINS That Affect How You Behave ... !!!
I was willing to change for you, you know.
And I thought I've loved people before you,
they always say the first hurts the worst, so I thought it was over.
The pain, you know.
Jack and Jill grew up in the south, Where the words were splinters and rolled off chalk white mouths. The people would shout and throw hands in the air, With signs made at home, for anyone who cared. Jack and Jill rode the bus to school, But had
My hair used to control me.
She was not kind and was so rude for the world to see.
Because mine was not like everyone's that I wanted to be.
Growing up in a majority white school, only straight blonde hair was cool.
I see her
in the mirror
a chubby-
cheeked
ruddy
imp
she looks back at me
through dark, almond- shaped eyes
a gaze of intensity
- a woodland nymph,
a sprite,
mischievous elf.
I am not Emmit Till
child martyr.
Not the Scottsboro boys,
nor Sacco and Vanzetti.
I am not Mumia,
" Live from death row."
or Leonard Peltier
grown old.
I am not the ghost
.... "Yo, for my anger settle,
.... Man give me a treble !
.... Wait, i've got to mingle
.... So, give me a single
.... in fact, i'll take a double
.... cos' this may start trouble !"
The ... " GREAT DEBATE " ...
Would Seem To Surround This Thing Called Race ... ?
It Makes Some FROWN And Open Their Mouths ...
About The Ways This Debate Is ... Swept AWAY ..............
You Know it's Funny To Me How Some People Be ...
It's Like HYPOCRISY ... DEFINES Their Breed ... !!!
Like White Girls QUICK To Run Their Lips ...
About Racists Who They Sleep With ... !?!
CAN'T Black People Just Get ALONG ... !?!
Well My Answer To This Is ... I Guess NOT ... !!!
DON'T Get Me WRONG ... !!!!!
Of Course SOME Do But NOT For Long ... !!!
It's Time To MOBILISE Those Who USE THEIR Minds ... !!!
For MORE THAN A Prize Or Bling That Shines ...
Those NOT inclined To Live By LIES Or Hide Behind Their PRIDE FILLED Lives ...
From China To Some U.S. States ...
And CLEARLY NOW ... In The UK ...
Many Choose To Live ... " Behind Closed Gates " ...
But The Word MANY ... " EXAGGERATES " ... !!!!!!
One Must Show COMPOSURE When Facing Exposure ...
To Ignorant Heads Showing ... DISRESPECT ... !!!!!!
Like Those QUICK To Run Their JEALOUS Gums ...
Who ACT As Though They Fear ... NO FOE ... !!!!!!!
I Was With A Female Friend ...
When Our Conversation Led ...
To ... Condescending Sinners ... !!!
Who Are CLEARLY ... Walking Sphincters ... !!!!!
She has come to the realization that she has failed her DNA,
but who is she to blame for subconsciously signing the treaty
claiming one side of her victor over the other?
Was it the books,
Immigrants THIS And Immigrants THAT ... !!!
All This Government Talk's Helping Hatred SOAR ... !!!!!
Meantime They KEEP ON Making Plans And Setting ... "TRAPS" ... !!!
So Folks ... " Are You Ready " ... ?
For Prose I Write Through Use of Rhyme ...
That PROVES My Mind Is ... " EVER READY " ...
To Spread Information Just Like .... CONFETTI .... !!!
LISTEN LISTEN ... Middle Class England ... !!!
Come On Now ... !!!
It's NOT Immigrants Bringing England Down ... !!!
It's Your Own Government That's Causing FROWNS ... !!!
Do You PREFER To Hear Words That Leave You ... " STIRRED " ...
Or Prefer To Hear Verse That's A Lil' PERVERSE ... !?!
I'm WATCHING YOU Like You WATCH ME … !!!
It's Really NOT COOL To Watch Me Like A THIEF ... !!!?!!!
Now This Story Happened To Me …
Are You AFRAID of What You See When You look At Me ... ?
Well Can't You See That This Is How Most Racists Be ... ?
If You're AFRAID ... Because I'm Tall And Black ...
Why Be Like That I'm Just A Man ... ?!?
London Has Been Said In A .... " City Guide " ....
To Be A PLACE TO SEE ... !!!!!
But You Should Recognise ...
That Prices Are HIGH Even For A Short Train Ride ... !!!
" Love Thy Neighbour " ... For Those Who Don't Know ...
Was A 70's Show That Used Racist Jokes ...
To Show How It Goes With Some English Folks ...
Orthopedic surgeon fled Vietnam at age fourteen
Old Lady works full-time and rescues children in between
My doctor doesn't know mother died from a complication of this surgery
Axe Murderers ... " GUILTY As Charged " ... !!!!!
They'll Now Spend Time STUCK Behind Bars .... !!!!!
But Let Me Pull Some OTHER Cards ...
From The Pack Where GUILT Is Stacked ... !!!!!
Why DENY Me Because I'm Black ... !?!
Why Try To Stab Me In My Back ... !?!
Why PUT ON ACTS ... ?
Why Be Like That ... !?!?!
I'M SAYING Man Stick To THE FACTS ... !!!
You act as if I haven’t been living from one fix to another the past three years of my life.
You act as if I don’t know just how cold life is,
I've Heard These Words SO MANY TIMES ... !!!!!!
"Virge, you've got some Radical rhymes !!!"
I'm Really Beginning To Wonder WHY ... ?!?!?
Why Oh WHY ... ???
Would You ... " Turn A Blind Eye " ... ?
To Things That Could Affect Your Life ... ?
MP's Do It ALL The Time ... !!!
But It's An English Thing So I'm NOT Surprised ...
A country once united now stands divided
Red; the color of the black mans blood that stains the streets
White; supremacy controls a country known for equal opportunity and the free will to be who you are
I’m in kindergarten
And everyone makes fun of me
Because my tongue sounds unique compared to theirs
Steam pours from thin shoulders
Dimly lit, white tile reflecting moonlight
Beams hit my skin
Slowly, ever so gentle,
Revealing to me a world both unknown
and a truth that scalds
When I woke up one day,
I realized,
my personality wasn't the same as usual.
I had never acted this way before.
When I woke up,
my reflection stood over me, looking down on me.
I felt small,
After: The White Man’s Burden by Kipling 1899After: Cool Hand Luke by Stuart RosenburgAfter: Preamble to the Constitution of the United States
There are those who see me as a Foe, yes, those who I hope to never know. They say to go back, and their reasons, did take me aback. Apparently, I am where I do not belong. Why can't we all get along? My very being infuriates them, and it feels d
these girls fan over my melanin as if it were designer
that they can try on and wear until they’re bored.
snatch the skin off this mannequin,
claw until they see fresh wounds,
and wrap it around themselves.
I am a man
A simple, 2 bells and one whistle man.
I do not fear my existence. I just am.
My saying this should not offend you.
I certainly mean no harm.
He told me I was one of the most beautiful specimens he'd ever seen.They said we'd look good together;I foolishly hoped he liked me.
It smells like..Fried chicken baked in bacon greaseLike collard greens Like stringbings Like baked beans with beef filled with heart diseaseLike pig intestinesThat all but one eats
Looking in the mirror, nine years old,
Almond eyes blink.
And I hate them, wishing they were bigger.
Shiny dark hair, smooth honey skin
In a world full of blonde curls and blue eyes.
I grew up in a suburb
I grew up in a suburb full of white people
I went to school with only a hand-full of minority students
Six, seven, eight, nine,
Growing up I would find
an interest in writing my own stories.
And those stories,
cheap imitations of novels I had read,
featured characters unlike me.
I too am the darker brother
sitting there,
like everyone else.
Waiting for my chance,
like everyone else.
They’ve said I won’t make it,
I’ll end up like the rest,
Hate. The word that proves how low your society really is.
Ignorance. You wish to teach love, yet I am a refuge for you fools.
Racing down the court, the score is 12 to 10.
I steal the ball from red, and pass to my teammate Ben.
“Shoot a three, and we’ll take home a win,” I shout.
stand up stand strong speak loud
nver let others push you down
never be pushed into silence got to speak up about the violence
the struggles the fear and the hunger
dont forget about your sisters and your brothers
Honestly, your flaws make me wonder...
if you truly love yourself ,
If you truly adore your design,
Deep down inside,
There’s a place you always hide ,
Listen let me tell you about BOX Not a container with a flat base and sides typically square or rectangular and having a lid I wanna personify the BOX I knew as a kid See, BOX was close minded (get it box closed minded)...... NO BOX WAS closed....
Look at my face
Look at
This
Face
I know her
These thin lips
Small eyes
Large cheeks
My eyelashes are short
But long enough for their purpose
Creeping through the silent night
Floor boards eerily echo throughout the house.
They’ve come before,
Now they’ve come back.
Seventy-five percent
Segregation based on race,
Racial inequality is a disgrace
Everyday the world goes by
Blacks are mistreated: that’s no lie
I’ve been fighting for years. To overcome certain fears. That aren’t only mines but also have my mother in tears. To believe that I am black. And one day when I leave the house I may never come back. To think one day everything can go off track.
1865...a year of freedom
Free at last! Free at last!
I have a dream to be free
From these cold chains of brass.
Colored in bondage
Bounded by ivory ignorance.
Fighting for freedom is a crime
Break.
Last time I failed
this time will i make
the jump?
Break.
Snap!
there went my leg
i'm broke.
Recovery.
Back with a familiar obstacle
in front of me.
Breathe.
"You have to learn how to wait for the things that can last forever. "
Sprinting like a tortoise towards love,I'll watch the hares pass me up...
Teeth came in, screaming came out
As a child finding my voice came with fees
Every chance I got to fight I would shout
My mother made me get down on my knees
It’s too hot here
For your skin too pure and white
That’s why you only go out at night
You walk the downtown streets
Despite race,
Love is love
Love sees no color
Love does not profile
Love is love
Despite gender,
Love is love
Love sees personality
Love does not see pink or blue stereotypes
I write this to you
Agbo, dear beloved cousin.
Despite what they say
In your sheltered rooms,
The real world says the N Word:
Why are we to be content with our role in this country?
We gave you what you asked for.
When will our government hear our plea?
I am a soldier.
Fighting a war I never enlisted in,
a fight I don't wanna lend another fist in.
I am a soldier...
Standing on the battlegrounds of war
praying to God saying I can't do this no more.
As an infant, their eyes are filled with happiness
their head is filled with innocence
their heart is filled with gold.
As a toddler, their eyes are filled with curiosity
their head is filled with imagination
Trimble 1
Reginald Trimble
All Men Are Created Equal?
A well known African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist (Malcolm para. 1),
Like a wildfire, it spreads
The hatred, the anger
Like a domino effect, it follows
The pain, the sorrow
Driven by rage
Control is lost
Who decided that this was our world ?
Who got the say in who is treated what way ?
I've truly never understood how people can hate other people
I believe NO one is born with hatred for anyone,
Look around, what do you see?
So many different shades of colors
Each with a face and a different story
Constantly judged by appearance and the way we look
But let me tell you who I am because I'm not an open book
Fellowman,
The humans who share this space.
All with a different race.
A different shade,
And unequally paid.
We all struggle,
What is race? What is racism?
We hear these phrases on the news
In our classrooms
In our textbooks
Race
Racism
Start with an organic beat,
Embellish it, make it new.
Create, borrow, infuse,
Add to the silence,
Develop a beautiful blend.
In an alternate universe where every little black boy does not resemble Trayvon martin I am not afraid for my nephew
the shade of our skin,
the color of our eyes,
the shape of our noses,
the way our hair falls,
things we don’t decide
yet they seem to be
deciding factors in how we see eachother,
Lemme tell y'all a story
About how the rhythm of a young girls
heart beat trembled at her feet.
misinterpreted by social context and ignorance overlooked and shunned
its brilliance is all too commonly mistaken for hate feared by those who are weak
but if you could just open your eyes and truly see
I once was reading the web page of the CNN and I saw an article about how white politicians were denying refugees from South America leaving war-torn countries begging for safety a place here in America.
I don't care if your here I dont care if you're not
I don't care if your a woman I don't care if you're a man
I don't care if you're young I don't care if you're old
"how much is too much"
i ask my mirror
whilst i cake on the makeup
too light for my skin
they dont want me because
i dont look like them
i am the alien with
my brown skin and
What do I call myself?
If the world sees me differently
than I see myself?
If I’m a blancita?
Blancita, a white girl.
Am I just a white girl?
Historians agree that our ancestors lived in caves.
Sheltered under a rock, we adapted to walls,
a safety mechanism.
From caves to townhomes, we kept our walls,
built a fourth one,
shaded the windows,
by Ariel Douglas (4 June 2018)
Ivory
A snowflake drifting down from a cotton cloud
Pure as the undisturbed drifts on the top of a mountain
where silvery soup cans cracked the pavement,
where red juice whined out from containment,
sweet fleshy fruit spittled fruits,
fresh from private property gardens.
where rooms stack like racks,
by Ariel Douglas (31 May 2018)
God’s face is all around us
Walking down every street
His eyes
His nose
His cheeks
They took our pastures of greener grass in exchange for bibles
Evictng us from our homes
Leaving us to wander
Pass our seas and into boats that can barely manage the breeze
A fear,
So potent and tangible that it creates tidal wave after tidal wave of nausea in my stomach
An anxiety,
That lingers
Like a post nasal drip of the soul
They are some of many billions
Some do walk-ins, some do sit-ins
One eats plenty, enough for four
One is but a raw, empty core
When tough times
Do arise
When the world is falling
And the voices are calling
We take a stand
Hand in hand
We come together
Moonlight skin thickets
Thrown without a care
Body coated in a tainted sacred
Dark ashy chocolate glaze
Child lips concealed by customers
Purity penetrated buried inside herself
SKIN(Tribute to The Color of Water) We were born to a mother and father who bathed me in possibilitiesAnd swaddled in civilityIt felt like immunityAnd twelve kids were great company
It’s 4 PM here in Georgia,
And I’m enjoying time with my friends
We’re studying and laughing together,
As we enjoy diversity through our peaceful lens.
Hatred and brutality make up our personalities,
Endless wars and fighting brings nothing but insanity,
They explain it as fidelity, define it as loyalty,
But is killing your neighbors truly an act of audacity?
"Oh my gosh you’re sooo sassy” should be tattooed on my foreheadIf I had a dime For every time I spoke my mindWith confidence
Dear Leandreen,
They may say your melanin isn't strong, but girl I already know your mighty
Remember these three words: "BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL". But Black is not only beautiful, black is a color that needs no light.
Dear Father,
Dependent on chance are my regards
Every event while unremarkable alone was remarkable in odds
A minority in minorities made by circumstances
Stop touching me with your eyes,
judging me.
Comparing me to your previously conceived ideas
about the color of my skin.
Stop assuming you know who I am
without a word of conversation,
What do you see when you look at me do you see
Do you see someone who is broken
do you see someone who’s lost
do you see someone who may shatter into a million pieces if they were to fall for
Dear Humanity,
The lips she used to kiss
Her same sex lover with,
And the binary she dismissed
Made them all loose their mind
I heard you was born in Brooklyn, Some know it as Crooklyn,You was a rich, dark color called black,
I heard you was born in Brooklyn, Some know it as Crooklyn,You was a rich, dark color called black,
Dear Colored People,
Colored or not! We are people and should be treated as so.
Colored or not! I still have to take on the many challenges that come within a day.
Color has always mattered
No matter what goes on
But why?
When we were all created by the man in the sky
I dream of thoughts and spaces where I reclaim my power,
I dream of reciting verses:
A reclamation of the use of my voice.
A voice that in reality fights being free,
Dear Stereotypes,
Black bear looks in the mirror, what do we see?
Black bear, black bear scary as can be.
I look in the mirror what do they see?
I am having a difficulty speaking
I am having a diffuculty of acting
Normal--
So I keep singing Normal Girl
so maybe I can be as such
My mind, a racetrack
Dear White Women,
Unkempt, dirty, and strange are three words you’re likely to hear when someone is talking about black hair.
Or, instead of talking someone goes straight to walking their hand in it because of its arrogant flare…
Everyday we play danger with our lives. Smoking, drinking and partying with drugs. Tryna be a Tupac when in reality we just some low down wanna be thugs. We not shooters out here..We just should've, could've, would'ves in the hood. A NBA player to
Dear White America,
You are not so endearing.
I bear the thorned cross of an ethnic name,
burdened with baggage instituted,
from bloodened roots that cultivated this soil.
White American Academia,
Can you hear me now?
If you can’t I can only wonder how
Why is it the only way to get your attention?
Dear My Beloved Country,
As blood gushes out of my wound and spills onto streets that someone in mine or yours were slaves on, I do not think about Black Lives Matter or All Lives Matter.
Raindrops pour upon her round face,
How she loved the silky splash of Adam’s ale
It cleansed and soothed her soul.
Her hair, unbending from the hot comb
On the day my little brother begins to see race.
I'd like to think he will be ready for the talk I'll give him.
I'd like to think he will be ready to carry the weight of all the self-love I will place onto his shoulders.
Dear Plato,
This desolate stone sculpture fumbling around with Play-Doh
Molding the world, keeping us afloat
Bearded Athenian, the framer's scapegoat.
USA
Home of the free and land of the brave right?
Yeah, that only applies to you if you're white.
to the world that has made me hate you and that taught me to love you, you, my dear skin.
my skin is my name, my skin is my attitude, my skin is my personality, my skin is me but IT’S NOT.
Dear Malcolm,
In some parts of the world,
Light shines brighter than in others,
Shade-divided world.
Under bright light,
Tragedy.
Police pulling guns on the daily, to the heads of coloured men, and to the hearts of them, Bang Bang and they're gone just as fast as they came.
The color of my skin has caused a lot of people to hate me
The dark brown reflection in my eyes is abhorred.
I walk along the paved streets only to be discriminated against
I want my seat, I want to own my pride
I seek to lay claim to what should be mine
Come, let me show you how I’ve been robbed
How I’ve been pushed aside as you take flight
I am from oppression
hate, judgment, and fear
The years of pain of my people
great-grandparents
And shame lasting a lifetime
living in the ghetto
is like living in someone else's shadow
everybody think im gone be a satistic
but i already missed that train
because i got something that is so powerful that i can claim the sun in my name
Just have fun
Would have begun
If my worries didn't leave my mind in a blurry
A flurry of bad thoughts
Sad thoughts of me claiming its my fault
I fall and default to ending it all
Nothing smooth
What does it take to stay awake
And not hate
Every eye that passes by
Makes me wonder if they try
Or do they categorize
My kind within wicked lies
As if every time a brother dies
Eyes cold as
Concrete
Even when not walking the streets
The halls
So closed off
From the poverty we breath
Considered clean
Cuz the sheen
Easier's to see
Away from the hood
I'm Into beats
That start up is sweet
So I'm ready to leap
Not to compete
That's for survival
That's not a lie though
You know you gotta show
How flows can leave your foes froze
Ride the wave
The pain will never go away
So keep rolling with this way of seeing
Being that as it is
We are sent to die
For a cause
And for justice
But who knows why
I know I am not safe here.
I know that every time I walk out of my house everything around me is a threat.
Do not tell me that the world is unsafe as if I’m protected from it.
You were only sitting
about
two or three rows
ahead of me,
but it was still
close enough
for me to tell
I stood before the world and the world said to me:
You are black to you are a gangbanger.
I stood before the world and the world said to me:
You are asian so you are a geek.
Once upon a time people lived in peace
And everybody's sadness came to cease
But now all of this is gone because now
People judge you for being who you’re
Once upon a time, there existed a hare, who could win any race with his running flair. "I'll beat anyone, fair and square," the hare bragged to his fans without a care. As if on cue, a cheetah came along, confronting the hare and directing a menac
They say racism is dead
and to a point that may be true
but where i live
interracial love is still considered taboo
it's sad that you see him as a color
i wonder if this is really hate you perspire
Hard working father, scraping by,
stares at the photo he keeps in his box
Soon as it hits 5, he’s off the clock
All around are people, too
Busy to
Care about anything except the moment they are in, too
Distracted to notice that they are not the only ones that
Exist. They do not have the time to see the world
I am the shade of brown.
No other color can top this beautiful “brown”.
No other feeling can be given when it is worn.
Worn with pride. Worn with confidence. Worn with a glow.
[read with sarcasm and rhythm]
Right now, we fear the seductive and dangerous night,
I grew up with many friends. White, black, Spanish, Asian. Color didn't matter
But things started to change when we played Cops and Robbers and I was always considered the latter
When I tell my mom that I fear for the lives of the people who I hold dear to me , she asks why
A canvas requires
a combination of color to be completed.
History, however, dipped its brush
in discrimination,
painted America in prejudice,
America the Great.
America that is mixed like a blender
but judges based on race
and a someone's gender.
America the Great.
Why do you hate me?
Is it the color of my face?
Trump became President and I got askedAre you proud to be American now?I never boasted that I was AmericanBut by the questioning of "now" and by the given smirk, I could tell that the answerWas decided for me
Surely there’s more to life than this Surely there’s more to life than to grow up, to wake up only to feel the need to resist I hear the constant string of yelling, I hear the crowds rebellingI hear cries of children as their homes are blown, I he
Look, what do you see?
Do you think I judge you
Like you do me?
There are things I wish I could do
But feel helpless when I'm around
They see me
just a brown woman,
they fear those blessed
and melanin infused
with strong pigment
and color,
A true badge of honor,
The United States of America
To some a haven of privilege
And others a hell of prejudice
There’s a system in place
A list stating
In the ten years that I have lived here,
I have been judged, discriminated, and hated.
I have been crushed, hurt, and segregated.
I tried and gave the best I could,
The color of my skin does not determine my worth; it strengthens it
The color of my skin does not define my success, it glorifies it
The color of my skin does not hinder my beauty, it enhances it
America!
God bless you if it's good to you!
You hate the pennies and the coloured,
But the change and the constitution they love!
America!
Opportunity a plenty!
But you slash and burn the crop
America, the brave?
More like America the Slave.
Founded on the oppression
Of millions, and millions.
Our ideals of freedom are only for those
A nation dedicated
To equality is great.
On paper,
No nation greater.
But if all men are created equal
Crying.
Constant tears.
Cruelty as far as the eye can see.
How come nobody helps me.
How can nobody see.
I’m in pain.
Oh, say can you see
The violence
The rallies
The death
We tell the world it’s freedom
But it is blood that paves our streets
It shines in the sun
Mocking gold
You tell me this is the land of the free
The land of opportunity
Then why do I see
oppression all around me?
Why has a country so great
Person of color. I am a person of color in a land full of free, white men. I am living under rights first given to only free, white men.
The country with the red, white, and green
Or is the red, white, and blue
To me it does not matter
But for others it does
Where someone comes from
it is important.
Born into a place that depicits my race as something bad, as something less than them.
Born into a place that thrives on the white face.
That white is pure and anything of color is a disgrace.
Why does a country full of such beautiful faces
always try to put people into their places?
Mouths that discriminate run free
making others scared to breathe.
Some too focused on the faces
Color encompassing unfamiliar faces
All united under one familiar flag soaring high
Unknown are the backgrounds, but defined are the races
Gathering and discussing under one sky
I have a weapon of mass destruction
A weapon that has many left shaken down to the last hair on their body
I am the danger and I am the fear to those who are fearing, I oughta feel cocky
The beauty of those oppressed by those with money.
You often wonder if they think you're funny.
If being poor and having to rely on the next paycheck is a reason to be scorned.
Whoever came up with the name America the Great, I would like to ask you what makes it so great?
The fact that it’s full of hate?
Sometimes people forget
We are on the same side,
We fight each other
Instead of the enemy.
A country full of hypocrites,
America is considered to be one of the greats.
But how can it be great?
There are still people without food on their plates.
How can it be great?
There is still a high fear of the unknown rate.
All people are created equal!
Our constitution states it, and so should I.
From north to south and east to west,
Everyone on earth should say it
All people are created equal!
I'm scared to go into that store with my best friend.
I don't like when they follow me around the store
Pretending to look at something then casually glancing at me
I know I have a purse.
Just like a heartbeat,
white people are born with white privilege,
Looking at me
you would never guess
that I am 50% Hispanic,
According to my Maybelline foundation stick,
Group poem:
key: each color is one person
bolded black is all 4 people
underline is 2 people
Do you eat curry?
I mean…
Is it too much for America to love black people like they love black Friday?
We ask, we ask, we ask
America.
The land of the free, and the home of the brave.
Stolen from the Native Americans and built by the Africans
This nation was never truly free
"Make America Great Again!" It's the slogan we all hear.
"Americans are full of hate!" from the mouths of people that live here.
Many years of suffering and depression. And all for what?
I never ever claimed to be a lyrical genius or one who spit words from the top of my cranium that could make you so furious because the truth has the effect to cause major pain in sum.
White hoods
Confederate flags
Burning crosses
Callin’ us “fags”
Vicious and violent
Even if they can’t reach us.
But we don’t stand a chance
If those who could help don’t show up,
What once was pure is now shattered
While founded on the means of acceptance
You have changed since
Commited the opposite of acceptance
We are divided
Messy, Daylight, Fences
She learned to love her, yes she did
In those few minutes and few weeks
It wasn't love strain'd (maybe Shakespeare'd understand)
And it wsasn't love beow the belt
BLACK with no Regret
I'm Black With No Regret
And maybe my shoulders scream it too
Or maybe it's in our stride
And strong voice and afros
I'm Black With Some Regret
I am going to be blunt
Police are murdering black kids
Poor considered less than the 5%
Politicians are lying
President won't say a word about black boys dying
They passing anti-gay laws
I've been an exception from the day I was born
coming out- one more
being native American- one more
the head doesn't work without the pills- one more
nobody told us that the declaration had a clause
I stand on the corner of Canfield and Clarion.
I search for a familiar car to drive me away.
It is cold; there is no car in sight,
And the wind cuts deep into my soul.
A land invaded by Europeans
Soil soaked with the blood of the Natives and Slaves
Immigrants come in droves to get the great American Dream
Red, White, and Blue. Such beautiful colors that wave high above,
Lately though all I see is Black, White, and Brown.
Funny how three colors can unite us, funny how they divide us.
Oh Beautiful Country of mine,
On the backs of the broken you stand.
A pillar of corruption and hypocrisy,
Built on stolen land.
All men are created equal,
As humans, color is a big part of the world as we know it. Different colors mean different things and represent different things and look like different things.
My earrings are heavy despite how high they hang up. And my headband’s telling everyone my name St.
I must admit I’m nervous.
Nervous to stand in front of those I know well and those only vaguely.
Nervous to proclaim the things which have caused turmoil within me.
That great flag flys high above us, it says freedom for all
Freedom for all has some terms and conditions though
Must be of a light or fair skin tone
Must be of a christian denomination
Must be a man
Who are you to judge me
Who are you to convict me of wrongdoing
Who are you?
A question with no answer
Who are you to judge me
We are the same within our hearts
But we are of different kinds.
We play different parts,
And have much different minds
My skin. Look at my skin. What am I? I am a mixed girl in a obscure world. When I would play on the playground. Small, this high, my wide eyes didn’t yet recognize the lies.
You ask what is race,
something simple as a face,
the color of the skin,
or your fellow kin.
There is a blank space
I've got a pair of shoes.
They are new, fresh,
clean.
Here comes the race;
I want to win
nervous
We start to race and my heart beats
beats and beats
Our skin is not as white as snow
Does this make us worthless?
A lot of us grew up in single parent homes
Does this make us inadequate?
We commit the same crimes
But why do we only get the life sentences?
Equality to open minded
Race to friendships
Money for change
2016 was change
More freedom
So I thought
The world is changing.
For better, or for worse?
Last year people seemed to overlook me
In my surroundings I felt cursed
What did I done wrong? I asked
I received no answer, so I wore a mask
Love is such a broad term
Heart ache
Heart break
Heartburn
So many of the people in this world are filled with love,
Iv'e watched desire, existence and the ripened fruit fall and clash from the disrespect of inhuman species
Glided through adolescence hoping that the kinks in my curls will relapse through its stuggle
My art’s wack, but no discrimination;
Destroy the use of alliteration-
I’d take the use of rhythm & rhyme
over drawing and shading anytime;
Gentrification gettin’ into this nation;Historically segregation, Killin’ kids, lit in flames and;Rioting makes it hasten, and racists make the hatred;It’s wicked and dangerous, we livin’ in hades;
Black or white.
Mocking eyes
Dissect me.
Try to decide
Who I am
Try to decipher
My meaning.
My surface is a
I'm angry
I have no idea why the fuck why, but if I did, I'd do something about it
I'm angry
If I knew why the hell I was angry I'd tell you. But I don't, so I won't, because I can't
I'm angry
The Eagle's Talons
When I was but a boy
On that day in '41
I had never seen a bomb
Nor had I seen a gun.
Father paid for my freedom
And he'd never let it be
That I would ever witness
Change, defined as that of growth and maturity within ones self, change is when you can go outside and feel as though you're strong enough to face the world...I wish I changed, I wish I changed to understand the difference from right to wrong, lef
Am black you white!
Am black is this in comparison to color.
The type taught in school
Blue, yellow,red, white and black.
But black is intense i have never seen skin that color.
Dark brown, yes
My life.
At this point it seems as if everyone around me has raced ahead
And I am left coughing in the clouds of dust left in their wake
As I either slowly inch my way forward
Dragging my body across the track
I remember at the start
Everybody prayed
Twenty sixteen please be better
They said and said and said
I remember at the start
How were we so different from the white man?With copper or white skin.We are all the same on the inside,With a heart, bone, and shin.
every single human on this earth has a purpose. every person has a complex and complete thought process and emotional reservoir that is utilized on a daily basis. every person has a mother, father, some have sisters and brothers.
Welcome
Welcome, a feeling I can never have in my own home
Welcome
A word, meaningless to me because people toss it around with abandon,
Then render it useless, less than great
Akwaaba
Tonight was never meant to end in a murderous fiasco of hate and pain. I crouch by the bathroom sink in order to preserve what was left of my dignity and desperation. With each shriek of the gun I crouch lower, lower, lower until my tummy reaches
I am dark and lovely.
My skin glows with melanin.
It is naturally unique.
I am dark and lovely.
My hair is full of natural kinks, coils, curls.
I don't need a relaxer.
I'm sorry my hair offends you
im sorry its puffy curls block your view
you made me feel ashamed when i had cornrows in while being so young but now you call them boxer braids
A life time of ignorance,
discrimination whispered into the billowing breeze,
my articulation better than those of 'my kind',
the prejudice that is passed from generation to generation,
I am black and I will succeed;
I will reach the top and I'll win;
I will go to college with tears of joy in my eyes and receive my degree;
Only I will know what I achieved;
As I toss and turn dreading my alarm sound, I think.
If these were my ancestors, they'll be up in a blink.
See they couldn't get an education or they'd end up dead.
Black, yellow, white, and Brown,
does it really matter where im from.
We all live togather in this world,
side by side, toe to toe,
Color blind
Living lifeTryna findPeaceFighting warsBleeding redUnder the shimmering seaMy brotherIn blackIn white
It's hard being a person of color
Why they ask?
Even the world questions it
With all the rich hues of the rainbow and our skin is perfected from that
We are still separated,blinded by these old slave rules..
I had to say my peace about the killing
I had always seen the police as the villain
New gang statewide, they the new crips
Dark skins laced in red, new age bloods
Growing up in a world where we see many different faces.
They come from all around the globe, all types of places.
But what's the difference between you and I?
At first glance, I saw the world as a new pair of glasses, As things move forward,And time moves past us, I mature to see all the little scratches, So bad I'm unsure how we've lasted this long, With a beef between race and class so strong, I see h
I have new neighbors.
They came from another
World. A world I have
Never been to. They came
To America hoping to
Have a better life. Boy
Were they wrong. My
Other neighbors hate our
A bullet in my head,
A bullet in my feet.
A bullet in my back
that almost wounded mean.
A bullet for our color a color
I'm writing, I keep on writing
My mind is speeding through with so much rhyming.
I'm looking at the news seeing what it's protraying about August 9, 2014.
Listening closely, and catrefully about what they're saying.
Is my black beautiful? I live in a generation that's cleaning up the mess the previous had made. Striving for equality, justice, but one thing doesn't seem to change.
Whether it be today, or tomorrow night, I may not make it home; I might die tonight
Black is not a type of character trait
I'm tired of our nationality being raped
Constantly we are mistaken by our identity
Yeah she's black
She's always walking around with a head full of naps
I dream that the country I live in will love me
Like I have loved it.
I am grateful
But how has my country,which I left everything behind for been grateful back
By fitting me into a group, calling me a rapist
Walk with me, Lord! Walk with me!Walk with me, Lord! Walk with me!While I’m on my pilgrim journey,I need You, Jesus, to walk with me.
Say it loud Im black and I’m proud
Black lives matterAll lives matterBoth are true, but who's killing who? Not just murderSilent murderOf hopes, dreams, crushed by circumstance. From povertyMore povertyThe cycle pulls people back in. Arrived as slavesRemained as slavesTo blind, sup
do you see her?
a girl trying to survive
this world carrying opinions of
her race and gender
on her back?
do you see him?
We dye our hair crazy colors.
They call us “ghetto”.
They dye their hair crazy colors.
They call them “hipsters”.
We twerk.
They call us “ratchet”.
They twerk.
Squinting through the holes of the mask,
the Veil, our people's pasts blinding
our sight to see our right to be
apart of something in the dream.
But what dream? A concept that was
Expression defying oppression
Props to Walker, no ordinary talker
Given a voice, best choice
The pain, rain is entirely insane
The actions, attitude inhumane
I am not the color of my skin.
I am not my semi-squinted eyes or my small nose.
I am not my small mouth and my round face.
I am not my small stature or my black hair.
Tight black curls bouncing against her back,
Long loose waves too stringy to attack.
Thick brown strands with a mind of their own,
Too complicated to even try to be blown.
The Race Game
By: Syreeta Morgan
The issue of race and racial equality seems to be trending
(i’m going to tell you a story today, a story that reads like a nursery rhyme that’s how common it is, and i’m going to tell you all the parts, all the facets of it that show a different picture like the faces on a diamond slowly turning
Back when the two pillars of freedom collapsed
A people, galvanized, suited up and axed
The chance to make peace by going to war
Without ever asking; What are we fighting for?
When will it be ok
To no longer hide
From a world full of hate
And a society full of lies?
growing up I was taught that the
straighter and more constraint my
hair was then the neater it looked
blow dry it, flat iron it and just put it
away
and why? because for some reason
Many people see equality as something that brings races togetherWhen in reality it adds a brand new fatality to the people you don’t like, and it’s not even a fair fight.I always hear people say“The whites oppressed the blacks”Or“The blacks are op
Frick!
That girl is a depressed mess,
Still bent on believing she's too blessed to be stressed,
But every day she feels like she's got "Try Me" written on her chest like,
Damn!
Wait a minute.
Black is the new blackThe old blackAlways black to blackand back to blackIt's back to that Blacker the black the sweeter the blackNot the deeper the lack or the cheaper the crackNot the triller the trap but the iller the rapNot the breaking of bac
Roses are red, violets are blue,
I wish I had as much privilege™ as you.
I wish I could get away with being
As generic,
As white,
As male,
And as ignorant and original™
African American women
We depend on the government to feed, clothe, and take care of our children.
We have a baby on May 15th and become pregnant again on June 20th by the same man
All
I need
Is my black+ness;
Making a home out of my skin
Deep with+in
Proof of my ancestors’ reignin’
I strive to be socially colored blind
Many people in this world love to categorize people by the color of their skin
3..2..1..Go!
Look I got that rocket start!
Watch how I'm drifitin' my kart
Hey, someone's trying to slip me up
But they didn't think I could make my kart jump
Now I'm finally ahead of the pack
We're living in a world filled with injustice,
where we don't have to be doing anything and the cops think they can touch us,
another man down, now that really starts to touch us,
She was black,
And he was blue.
The other green,
And one red, too.
They spent each day,
Concerned what they had,
For it made black turn dark,
And blue turn sad.
Green became sick,
She’s a person of color,
Who’s afraid to confront the police,
Asking herself why can’t there be peace.
Day and night she thinks about her brother,
Living without my identity is like slipping through the drain on the side of the road.
Flowing away with the water
Nowhere to be seen.
As if I could be seen.
Hi I'm here to tell you a story A story about me Or you Or him Or her Or those two over there Or the ones walking behind me Hi I'm here to tell you that We are alike I'm here to tell you that blood flows through my veins Sharp objects can
Imagine darkness
Blackness with hints of color
Unusual yet subtle...
Imagine lonliness, yet devoured with fear
Thats how I feel
Lost in a sea of whiteness
All I need is my culture.
The blood of the Meshika flows through my veins
Know that my ancestors were not the Aztecs,
For that name was coined by the European imperialist
I’m white, Caucasian,
Dutch, Norwegian.
I have no month
To celebrate this background,
But I have had 18 years
To learn about my people
My people—
Who are not just white
America's Garden
Here in America diversity is key,
Seen on this soil are seeds from overseas,
Sailing on water or flying in air,
The common goal of freedom brings those seeds there,
The color of one’s skin
Is not where they begin
There should be no racism
We’re all human
A gender is a gender
A world divided by race,
A people shackled by hate,
For if there is bigotry,
Then there is no liberty.
Although we are different,
We are all significant.
Do not fear difference,
You're sitting there across the room yet it feels like..
your a hundred miles away…
I gaze at you and the way your eyes shine
your smile shines brightly and kind
When I was 9 years old, I came home from school one day confused by a question a classmate had asked me.
Won't it be great when we all wear the goggles of nondiversity
When we can't tell each other apart because we're all the same
A white man, a black woman, and an Asian boy take a boatride
Won't it be great when we all wear the goggles of nondiversity
When we can't tell each other apart because we're all the same
A white man, a black woman, and an Asian boy take a boatride
I am not African.I am not Black.I am not Caucasian,Hispanic, Filipino, or Asian.I am not a Melting Pot,but I have surely been influenced by - I am not a NegroNor am I a Niggerand don't say "Nigga, please"or start any conversation with"What's up, m
The day the mirror spoke the truth to me
was the day I fell asleep proudly with my hair wrapped up and my satin pillow case
lied neatly at the top of my bed
To be racist
Is to discriminate towards a race.
To feel superior due to your exterior,
To believe that others should feel inferior,
Just for being them.
It’s being prejudice purely for pigmentation,
My mother was a white womanbut a woman, all the same.
For years, I never thought much of white womenIn fact, I didn’t think of them much.
In China, hospitals skip the fourth
and the fourteenth floor
because four in Mandarin Chinese
iss hi,
the same pronunciation
as the word for death.
I don't wanna die too young I'll say it again , I don't wanna die too youngHaving my loved ones and the people that knew me tear up every time they hear my name Or feel a sudden rush of sadness or pain and feel like every time someone uses my na
They tell me some of my best pieces were written late night early mornings When the troubles from my past were annoying me like pants creases My troubles are like the freshman fifteen annoying yet creepingThe whole time I was thinking that there
Too many African Americans getting shotToo many conspiracies about the government that I don't know if I should believe or not Too many people running for President that should not Too many judge mental people Too many waiting on the world to cha
Fortitude.
It is a word I have grown accustomed to.
Fortitude.
Next to it, my God given name is found.
Strength is embedded in my shoulders proudly supporting this determined head of mine
Another story on the news just broke
A father just died from being choked
Just like an innocent boy with a toy got killed
And a teen with his hands up was shot against his will
I am a Realist,
But also an Idealist,
Because when the world is at its worst,
That is when I am at my best.
One son,
Was done,
By two parents
Of two colors
What even is a world without hate?I wouldn't know, this one sure ain't.We live in a society teaching us nobody cares,that nobody wants you,and nobody's there.Society teaches us to not like what we are,
Who is to say what I am?
Am I a girl?
Well clearly, I am.
Does that not make me a woman,
Powerful and determined?
Because clearly, I am.
Am I my race?
My heritage?
The young boy was so quick to pick up a gun but never a
book
the young girls so eagered to twerk something but never
to desire to learn something
they wonder why they never earn nothing like respect
This is how it goes:
You are yellow
you know most
embrace the color
your small eyes.
But I am not!
I am more than that!
I have eyes, yes! So do you!
the world i live in is so ignorant . we base our choices off how others will react .
What am I?
I am human.
What are you?
You must be confused, since you cannot clearly identify me.
You mean that the color of my skin does not give you a clear indication?
It is the color of my skin and the texture of my hair,
which makes people create assumptions that are not are not there.
I'm right, you're wrong.
And I have every right to write that I'm right, because I'm not wrong
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
Writing is an honorble plan for man, as long as the writing in some way could help man understand for generations to help them learn special plans and avoid the scams and ditches of life.
Will this pen improve my writer's lense?
you will survive
emerging into the world like any other baby
small, wrinkly, squinty, and fragile
(singing)
Tick tock , tick tock, tick tock, tick tock
The time keeps tickinh, the time keeps ticking yeaaaaaaah.
(starts poem)
you psychologically abuse me,
(singing)
Tick tock , tick tock, tick tock, tick tock
The time keeps tickinh, the time keeps ticking yeaaaaaaah.
(starts poem)
you psychologically abuse me,
I rarely watch the news because of the content it shows,
it's ironic because we say "stop the violence" but constantly it grows,
To deal with HATE
Of Race
Of Religion
Of Sexual Orientation
How a person speaks
Are we not children
Of our planet?
~ Ricardo
There is so much controversy over the slogan "All Lives Matter", and I can not seem to get my mind wrapped around the idea why. Yes, black lives do matter. I, as a black woman agree with this statement. There is nothing false about this at all.
As young people, we are told
"Be yourself; noone can do it for you."
That is awesome.
Then we grow older
And ourselves are not what anyone expected.
That is awesome.
Every day I wake up from my bed and the first thing that comes into my head
Is what I am
I know
I am white
You do not have to stare
At me
With your doe eyes
And envy
I know
I am white
I hate this skin
Keeping us apart
This lesson we've all been taught
Use your third eye.
Be socially aware, yet not too socially aware.
Accept your history, although no one else will.
Get an eduction.
There was a fundamental disconnectas he thrust out his hand to shakemine and missed three feet wide.One eye looked off left and the otherseemed to stare right through me.
I am crumpled.
I am tumbling
through a busy street-
not lifted by this wind
but dragged.
I am breathing.
I am lucky
the paper bag is about
How does one act white?
Do I have to speak proper English and wear nice clothes? Do I have to get good grades and not cuss all the time?
If that's acting white, then yeah I guess I act white.
Why is there more hatred than love
Why do I not see help from above
Why are we viewed as despicable punks
Why do they only put us in cuffs?
Why do I see a racial divide
Is my skin the only part of me
that people are willing to see?
Wil it be the one thing they need
to sentence me to rest in peace?
Mediocrity is dominant in the addressing of global issues. 'The world will heal, just give it time.' That time is mine granted by
I'm afraid for my unborn son.
He cannot come until this war is won.
I don't want him to not come home one night.
Can't go out or live his life because he's not white.
"So what are you?" A question too familiar
Years ago my mind would halt, frozen
My heart would pound. "I do not know"
I did not want to know.
"Are you Asian?" Your ignorance now shows
Part 1
It sure would be great to solve the race debate,
But before you choose a side put down your pride and hesitate,
Good and evil is not for us to decide that is up to Heaven’s Gate,
What Crevecoeur said about America being a melting pot is true!
My teachers and mentors say that is more like a stew.
However let me prove it to you
For once I explain then I can tell you my troubles
#twitter is my biggest distraction
#distracted
Your being distracted
Hypnotized by hashtags memorized by the masses old slaves to the new master
The media is trying to make a fool out of us
There's too much discrimination, too many uncaring hearts,
Some people only laugh when others are torn apart.
Whether its racism or sexuality, no one seems to care,
Black is the colorOf the mothThat lays peacefullyOn my window sealNever making a sound Black is the colorOf the ravenFlying highIn the clear dark skyBut still a mystery in our eyes
Sometimes, I get tired of white men on screens
I get tired of being told to care about what they believe
I get tired, of no one listening
My voice is loud
How do they so easily turn the dial down
I see
Native Americans: We stole this from you
Black people: We brought you here
Mexicans: Get out and stay out
When I was young I had brown eyes the color of dirt but I imaged them as creamy and smooth as chocolate dripping off big juicy red strawberries on a hot summer’s day
I have never wanted a black man before
He who walks around with his under clothing out
He who had but 5 words repeated over and over
I want this man
I covet him like a child covets a charismas toy
In respone to Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, and Julia Alvarez:
I, too, sing America,
I am westernized over my Mexican heritage.
I grew up in the suburbs
Always being told that I was different
I grew up in the suburbs
Always being told ways to change
I grew up in the suburbs
There’s a stigma within the black community
That if you’re educated, you’re acting “white”.
No longer are you associated with the “ghetto”
Or should I say your kind,
If you have your pants above your waist
It is simple.
It is easy.
My name is common.
It holds no apostrophes,
Or surprise silent letters.
It is simple.
It is pure.
My name is white.
I'm just another colored kid living in the suburbs. Picket fences all around, all painted my neighbors color.
Woman Wrapped in Self-Confidence
I am a woman wrapped in self-confidence
A crown of wisdom placed upon my brow
A heart of wonder laced with tenderness
Tall I stand against all resistance.
This campus is a sea of perfection.
Waves of blonde haired individuals bob around with deep blue eyes floating underneath.
This sea is straight,
straight hair,
with straight slender bodies.
You are not invisible
not in any way, shape, or form.
I know you see things differently.
you dont have a "set in stone" way of thinking.
You think of evrything, possibly, too often.
Do you know how hard it is to be me?
They say we all have freedom,
So when I chose to be like this
They say it's wrong
I should be like them.
So what happened to the freedom?
I am a black guy.
From today until tomorrow, years later to forever
I want to make an impact that would change the world
There are moments when we see the violence coming and no one is in sight to stop it
These people knew when they created the word locked they'll be sweating up a prophecyL. O. C. K. E. D Let our children kill each other down . & yes they were talking about there kids as we'll '
“My dreams are humid from sun and water and heavy from cornbread and clabber milk”
A 17 year old child applying for college,
built for success, wisdom, and knowledge.
A plethora of information has been deposited into him,
But due to his black skin many have trained him on a whim.
BlackAs a kid Black was just a color in the crayon boxIt was the color of the night skyIt was word I used to describe my best friends hairIt was the color of the pen I used to draw all over my little white dress
Who am I?
I'm a person
I can see my body
So I'm real
I can see my skin
So I'm black
I can think
WOW
As I think I try and put each thought in to words
All eyes on you
Its time to tell the truth
We finally got the spotlight camera action
We must take action
So we must act
Not on a stage with the man pulling the strings
This is not oz
I shook and dissolved
into beams
of pride
and pain
as Neiel Israel spoke the line into existence;
“Every day a black man walks
He is like Jesus,
I used to think that I was dumb
Nothing more than chewed gum
People would say that I did not deserve to live
But I did not hate I learned to love and give
Discrimination at it's worst
Her wallets missing and ofcourse she looks at the black man, cursed for eternity by the problems caused by a much lighter skin, complexion has become a way of detection, license and registration, would you mind opening your trunk for us sir, they
The princess dances, draped in all the world's white:
white shoes, white fan, white skirt and train,
They call us
thieves -
filthy, hungry,
bean-eating
wetback thieves.
They look at our
brown skin
and sneer.
But
they do not know
who we really are.
I have been told over and over that I cannot identify
With the turmoil surrounding
These arguments of race
Is this not racism in itself?
Yes, I am Caucasian.
But this does not make my opinion invaid
I remember being a kid, and a white man called me a "wetback'
I went back to my mom with the word, and said "what's that?'
She asked where I got it from, and cried when she heard
When I first laid eyes on your goregous caramel skin, round brown eyes, and cheeky smile
I nearly fainted
And so did my parents
I could not keep this love a secret
I would not have it
America the greatest
Where everyone is racing to the top
But how unfair that some had a head start to the Race
For example,
Africans did not gain their freedom until 1865 (The Civil War)
As a woman I am told to be quiet
Keep it down
They try to keep me down
Below you, looking up
On my knees, I exist only in ways that service you
They want me to hear, not to speak
I burned the American Flag.
Literally.
I burned the American Flag and I recorded it on video.
Generations before
now define the present
a once proud race
now treated like pheasent
I am judged
based on the color of my skin
even though I consider
those with different color skin my kin
You often do not hear of us,
when race is discussed.
Not in the history books and not in everyday life.
We are a dwindled race with pride and grace,
yet we are still facing the same things.
My skin is like night. My eyes are like the stars.
I love myself, but why can't that love be OURS?
See I've grown up in places where light is good.
Our wedding dresses are white. The message is understood.
The essence of Afro Normality
Afro-puffs and Kool-Aid sittin' on
The front pouch
Neither rich nor poor
Criticize me. Brother.
For we are not the same.
Keep that hatred pouring outward,
Because, you are not to blame.
You see things in black and white,
For you know not much more.
I feel hated
I see the faces
Of the people who hate me
The people with a darker complexion than me
Asians, Mexicans, African Americans
Not all but some
The list goes on and on
a word, a whisper
a shout, a scream
no one ever hears a thing
....well unless it fits within their reality
But I roar
hoping someone will read my song
perhaps someone new will realize:
I am incapable of self-identifying.
Everything I'd claim, you'd think I'm lying.
How can I say I am "made in America,"
when I am a product assembled with
Not many people enjoy my chocolate shell
They tear me apart until they reach my vanilla cream center
They drown me in a white liquid
To subsidize my taste
Why am I not good enough
To the day I die I will search for it
My soul screams for it, it is in pain
What is the purpuse in my life?
I don't belive in JUST a life, there must be more to it than pleasures and sorrow
Call me a beaner,
Say I'm going to be nothing but a fucking cleaner.
All they want is a stereotype to stick in a position,
Where you have no ambition.
They say to go back to the homeland,
What land?
Finally the time has come to run
Spring time is always filled with so much fun
Laughs and cheers fill me with bliss
Everyone is over joyed and the snow will not be missed.
Education is an opportunity to have.
It provides us knowledge about world.
In different shapes and sizes all of us are bound to become a somebody.
His skin color does not mean
to violence he is keen
Skin color can't tell what lies
within a person, be it cruel or kind
One
It is about time you realized that you are black
you still don’t know what that means
But one day you will
And you will never have felt more beautiful or misunderstood
Me Vs. You
Why must you walk round here; head hung high as if you’re proud of what you did back then and even during my time
When I was 14, I was told that my name sound "too black."It didn't match my personality.I acted "too white," "not ghetto enough,"As if me being black didn't quite fit into their scripted reality.
Everyday is the same as yesterday
I fight to be a new me but it always flees
The chance to change my families name itches at my mind
That new me must come up and rise
I go to school, isn't it obvious?
Sixteen year old girl with a backpack,
It's pretty clear to see.
I go to classes, then lunch, then class again,
Hop the bus, go home, do homework go to bed.
300 years of slavery,
300 years in chains,
One hundred years of bravery,
This finally led to change.
Fifty years later followed Obama’s campaign,
Somehow we are still scared from all the previous pain,
With no red dot,
with nothing new and hot,
how can i shine?
Bill and Grace
both in my same race,
but they're at a different pace.
Is it my race?
How far will i get
Where a people fight for acceptance, one wanted to fight without his fists. He used his words to lead all in one philosophy: to sit amog the opression, you must not use violence.
The idea of sex
In the air everywhere
Billboards and signs and t.v. too
Are all too much and make me puke
“Sex sells” someone says,
But don’t they know
It’s dangerous?
Sex blurs the line
I Am Two
By: Autumn Alston
I am two. Two worlds forged together, each crippled by negative history,
Two forces, diametrically opposed, when combined, producing a mystery.
I wish on broken stars,
because the bright ones give off too much light.
The feeble stars,
with fractured points and fading colours,
too fragile to fix, but strong enough to hold wishes.
It seems as if theres no reputable or therapeutical cure to all this stress I'm misplacing
Skin does not have the power
To identify who someone is.
Skin has no morality, nor intelligence
If there's one thing that disgusts me about the world today it'd be the lack of acknowledgment of wrongs
This country is the biggest offender especially when its main goal is based off of legal tender
Who am I? Why am I here? What should I strive for?
How will I know when I’ve achieved success?
Why do we hate, when we are from the same creator?
Why do we criticize and judge, when we are under the same blood?
Why can't we be friends , when we all sin?
Why is a question that everyone face.
Growing up I never saw color or hair types or differences.
I never knew that Suzy was different and not like me.
But as kids we always ran together and played together.
We would even take naps under the same tree,
Yet my path grows my story will never change.
It grows, it calls, and it even bleeds, yet never asks for help.
The streets are filled with me,
The streets are filled with you.
its difficult to see,
its impossible to understand.
the band,
the band of brothers.
of whom will die and kill,
Skin
Your ugly because your dark skin
Your beautiful because your light skin
bullying teasing all to make yourself feel good
Black, White, or Brown
A color shouldn't define you.
Actions should define you.
People being stereotyped
People not willing to look past there ego.
Instead mock and torture.
Why do people judge me?
They look and see I decree,
But never open their eyes to
Think of the person that is underneath.What truly makes me, me?
We as blacks
Grew up with the struggle of the nation on our backs
Being told that the skin that is attached to our bodies
are a curse to our soul
We believe that being different makes us a queer in our "group"
I hear the word so often that I have become numb to it.
I think that is the worst part. They call me out of my name and they hate me so much.
I am nothing but a toy.
And I can stand up here and smile as those who know me, those who love me, stare in shock as they realize that the girl they treasure isn't worth anything more than a cheap piece of plastic.
What if the world was actually black and white?
Would our minds conceptualize color or rationalize hues?
Would we be forced to see the grim reality of the world in which we live?
So the verdict says not guilty.
The world stops.
How could someone get away with murder?
A boy has been shot!
He has been killed!
This is the world we live in.
Riots begin.
Peaceful protest.
Racism, a form of xenophobia ?
have you seen the media?
the innumerable racial discrimination
I am constantly faced with the question:
"What are you?"
Because I am not White enough
To sit with the cool kids
But I’m not Black enough to chill with the crew
"What are you?'
Change the world any time,
does sound fine,
all I need is the mind,
and the word world to be defined.
because my world is changing all the time,
my brain flexes and my life is realigned,
Living in a town with less then 10,000,
Creates an environment with little uniqueness,
Cookie cutter, cookie cutter, cookie cutter,
Everyone is the same.
How do we become unbiased if no one changes the game?
You look at me
What do you see
Do you see the stereotypical "double negative"
Or a young woman just trying to live
I'm just the same as you, you, and you
Made of dreams, aspirations, and potential too
Imagine a world of no conflictNo anger, no murder, no war
A world of respect
Where the color of your skin doesn’t matterWhere which side of the tracks you grew upon makes no change
If there was one thing I could change,
There’s no doubt it would be
To keep my parents here with me.
And no, they haven’t died.
You can’t bring back the dead.
And no, not arrested,
It's that time again
that same Box again.
That tiny square on every test
that taunts me and says:
You don't fit in here
You don't fit in anywhere
Your skin is too pale, you non-Chicana
What would you change?
What would I change?
I'd chage the way peole think,
Get rid of the unnceccasary judgement.
Who needs that?
Certainy not we.
We have the power to learn,
A bunch of hypocrite christian the land of no religion
spreading rumor talking shit what happen to the worship
Job programs are being created for those with exotic skins.
I am white, where are my programs?
There are no scholarships for being white.
I am lesser, but I am told everyday I'm greater.
If I could change the world,
I would abolish prejudice;
Or the bumpy past,
That created it.
No race more superior,
No size more supreme.
Only happiness,
And positivity gleamed.
America
land of the free
America
home of the brave
America
land of the whites?
America
home of the hate?
America
land of the different
America
home of the same
Why hate?
Who cares?
It's none of your
business ma'am.
Don't raise your kids
Then hit another man.
Level out
Then love.
I am a brown girl named after a black man.Half Filipino, and half some sort of white,and people ask me if I’m Mexican.
Color
By Jordan Devonshire
Color is more than the seven in a rainbow
Joy is the color of my soul when the sun glows
Honey brown // the color of my skin
Your hatred is unreasonable, unfathomable, and irrational.
So why continue to say that name in place of my own?
You are the NIGGER
The low-down and the dirty.
The hatred.
i wonder who it could be
that would want me for me
who could include my faults
in whats best of me
why cant i see
when will he show
its been a dream of mine
he holds the key
Race.
What is it?
Who needs it?
Does it really make a difference?
Or does it only impose limits?
On the soul.
If I could change one thingIm sure what it would beI would push countries togethereleminate boarders, I would open their eyesand make them forget the colors.
Oh, fathers of the Motherland,
weep for thy sons have been sold short,
Color. Skin. Diversity.People, look around, there’s a world full of theseBut color of skin is all that we seeWe may not be captive, but we aren’t freeHarmless jokes, a silent stare
Who are you to judge who I love?
Who I kiss and who I hug?
Why are you judging who puts a smile on my face?
Would you be happier if the one I loved was a different race?
What if today was the first and last time you met me?
Would you be able to have a conversation with me?
Would you be able to look past my complexion and my intonation?
Never once looking at the span of my hips
An image of your ebony skinis burned into the edges of my mind,a stark contrast against thetan of my own.It resides beside a deep fear of mine,a swirling void of judgmentin the eyes of those that may see
A young child was I, innocent and free,
with my best of firends a boy named jack.
we were young and like all, carefree
only one difference he was black.
At the local corrnerstore we were the same,
“Asian” used to be a thing of beauty,
But now there are images of labor—
Simply that is our soul duty.
But we, just like all, are humble neighbors.
The day I was born I was given a daisy.
When they gave it to me they told me:
This is no ordinary daisy,
As long as it’s with you,
Everyone will believe you to be innocent before guilty,
Yeah child I been keeping an eye on you
First it was Keith, then it was Jerome, and now Tyrone
My best friend doesn’t know who she is anymore
She is a coyota
Culturally stretched beyond the limits of a black and white definition
She straddles the border outlined by the Rio Grande
Mezclera
Questionin innocenceNeed tuh cleanse n replenish dis effed up conscience.Hoodie up, arizona n skittles in his pocketsSuspicionLife taken away for foolishness of self defense?
Together, we can break every chain holding us back.
This black on black crime will one day end.
So many times I’ve heard,
“You don’t act black”,
And to this day I still don’t understand,
How does one act a color?
Do I be decrepit, ugly, or dark?
At least that’s what Webster tells me,
You call me ya nigga
Well, check this out
If I’m your nigga I can’t be your homie
If I’m ya nigga I can’t be your man
If I’m ya nigga I can’t even be your friend
Not because I don’t want to
Somebody once asked me, “What’s it like being black in New Mexico?” Well it’s no field trip that’s for sure.
I told them it’s like being on a vacation that’s lasted too long.
Like being a old car in a new car lot.
Be this your occupation
Or unholy mutilation
We walk the earth in unity
United in our scrutiny
Who are we?
What are we?
Where did we come from?
When we got here?
How?
Questions Americans need to ask themselves.
Before we say the word IMMIGRANT to anyone,
No father
mother here
but really there
I am here
but really
where?
nature
or really nurture?
This world is all about oppression.
It seems that's all we really care about.
To slam our likes.
To slam our beliefs.
To slam our backgrounds.
We never seem to stop.
We do it more and more.
We all are the Same
On the inside
I feel so Ashamed
On the outside
The moon is my enemy i feel only Pain
Surrounded by darkness all you see in Cocaine
“What are you?”
I know what they mean—
I wish I didn’t.
I hate to give them the satisfaction of an answer.
What am I?
Our race....Why is it filled with so much hate? When the late great Martin Luther King had a dream...and the way we live today,I really don't think that's what he means.
A young girl that's so upset
So she goes through life giving nothing more than sex
You ask her what's love, and she'll give you a puzzled face
maybe it's cuz' her father dropped out from the early race
She blinks and gapes and her mouth spouts crapThe audience stares and claps and their mouths flap
I sit and watch and wonder how or maybe even whyThey talk like I care and wonder about nigh
When he asked si celebro
Christmas, I responded
with a yes and a question.
"We don't do much no gifts
no commercialism not much
at all because there is
I won the case, my prize?
One way ticket to paradise.
I take my people and go
The land is vast, they said
We don’t need your savagery, they said
My people’s tears trace the trail
To you it’s just a word
But it makes her soul burns
And leads to that knife
She takes that first slice
And though the cut hurts
She’d rather feel that pain
They tell my people to go back to their country
as if our nation's origin didn't come from immigrants.
Maybe we could educate men
That no always means no
And I guess we could educate women too
That it's not your fault
What he did to you
Even if he was your boyfriend
A random stranger
Today is my cheat day,
Or maybe my cheat week,
A smirk of a smile,
Of diets and exercise I do not speak,
The guilt forgotten because I seek,
The delicious foods no longer I sneak,
When you’re alone in the castle
When even the mice have gone
When the moonlight shadows stalk
And it’s a long time till dawn
When you cannot hear a voice
Because the walls block out the sound
That tear you saw Represents all the pain i have suffered The built up anger,hate, and frustration That had been bestowed upon me That tear isn't any ordinary tear It isn't the cry for attention or pity It's the tear of someone so broken inside I
Me
Self
I
Mainly engaged
Sometimes energetic, lonley or fading
I hope, I dream, I wish, I want
I have finally learned
That I am myself
And that myself can fight for me
Let me tell you a little story about a cat I know,
That wen’t from love to loss not too long ago,
From inside a warm house to outside in the rain,
Nobody cared about her struggles, hunger, or pain,
“Asian” used to be a thing of beauty,
But now there are images of labor—
Simply that is our soul duty.
But we, just like all, are humble neighbors.
Here I am, color of sand
BLACK
By David Harris
So many times I’ve heard,
“You don’t act black”,
And to this day I still don’t understand,
How does one act a color?
Do I be decrepit, ugly, or dark?
We shall overcome one day,
Are the words that the leaders use to say,
God Let us have justice is what they'd pray,
Please let the pain and suffering go away.
Now the people recite those words no longer,
Look at me and tell me
I didn’t fight for my rights.
Because twenty-four hours seems more like twelve rounds
And some days the bell doesn’t sound.
Their blood runs through my veins
We live in a world full of many races,
We see so many different faces.
Some are big and some are small,
But as people, we need to love them all.
There are opinions about religion and hate,
I said I got to keep my head above water - James harden in OKC bring me off the clutch time in the 4th quarter - Its funny nowadays how people don’t want you to make - nothi
All men are created equal
Equal meaning what?
Try and try again
Give ME the definition
To the "dear" Mrs. Langerman.
How dare you take advantage of a young child.
She was innocent, sweet and mild.
Just because of her race you stood there
Discriminating and staring with that dark stare.
When it is between white and color it's all over the news,
But when its black against black it gets no views!
This is normal just like sinners behind pews.
How is the stench of dead boys on the streets nothing new?
How come when a white looking Hispanic man kills a black boy it's all over the news,
When,
African American is killing African American.
Sometimes they are boys,
Six and seven!
Innocent lives being lossed, like they dont know the meaning of lifes cost. The government has money for guns and war but still cant feed the poor. They tell young men that its a new chapter, a new door. But not just any men, black men.
Most of us believe that we are free,
But in reality, we are nothing more than a working bee.
Most of us believe that the system is fair,
But in reality, its only causing us pain.
Dear Mr. So and So,
I know it must be confusing.
A black girl!
In an AP class!
What a rare sight to see...
Like a...
pygmy hippopotamus...
shitting out a rainbow...
in the Amazon.
Welcome to Chicanos- r-us
We service all of your needs
Will school principals go to isle 12?
We still have a few janitors here
Desperate for a job
Yes, they are Mexican
Ready for their graveyard shift
Mistaken Always shaken We move because we're told But it's getting old Tired of these rules The tools They say, the tools to life To growing and succeeding To living and competing Jump, run, and go They say it but really though What do they mean
Earth! what a small word for a bulbous creation,so much diversity, from cultures to racesfrom continent to countries, from places to nationswhat a gift God gave us for ages and ages
Dear Diary,
I'm. Mad.
No excuse me that's not what I meant to say-I meant to say I'm pissed off.
An educator, a spectator, a listener, more like a spectator who is the mediator behind the desk everyday and you think to yourself how do they get through the day.
Raised by the vernacular, but taught to adapt.
Thug life…never ran after her, I kept my moral code intact.
But what do they see…
What society has painted individuals who look like me to be.
If only we were color blind…
The hurt,
The pain,
The feeling of being the undeserving, or
The inferior would disappear.
in the lonely republic,
a little white girl puts pink
and red ribbons on her
dark skin barbie, the one
she hides from her mother.
Although I'm not white
there's a chance that I just might be your type
If you give me a chance
I'll broaden your view on romance
I don't want to be your date
Just don't want you to discriminate
I'm sorry, I hadnt realized that correct grammar and proper English was only something one race could doMy mother never told me I had to talk in slang, incomplete sentences, & silly colloquial speech
How can I succeed
Or Believe
Or Achieve
When oppression plagues me ?
Under wraps is the violence-
Beneath shadows they hide it :
Everytime I look at a paper it has:
Black, White, Chinese, Indian, etc...
Why can't it just say American?
I don't want to be labeled as those things,
I'm not black, I'm not white,
I'm just an American.
You would think by now
Wait no, you should know by now I should leave
Leave it all
Wait, that just isn't right either
Can I ask a question?
I just did huh?
And there I go again
S-C-H-O-O-L
Caramel skin with an undertone of olive
Glowing in the fluorescent light
I stare at myself in the mirror
Tell me you know what it means to be Black....
Tell me the true definition,
not the one created by the masses for the purpose of destruction
My life: it’s like one of those practices where you keep running suicides
The whistle blows, you start running
You don’t know when it’s going to stop; but what you do know is you have no other option but to give it your all
Wish I was colorblind
Differences weren't relevant
Soon as I was to find
A dog is not an elephant
But what about the hurt
so important color
sep'rating whites from dirt
White or black
what difference does it make?
we are both skins
that we did not create
the color we walk in
is our own
the only thing that we can embrace
is making us known
of who we are
We as a people are capable of so much
We must use each other as a clutch
We as a people must rise to the majestic heights
So we can fight this battle like a medieval knight
Ever since creation our ultimate goal
was to become
Neglected
Individuals
Gracefully
Giving
Everybody
Remarkable
Soul
Black skin
eyes made of Gold
His game was astronomical
This young boy who loved to hunt
In the underbrush of the forest
sun halve past twelve
A fox appeared ahead
Golden fur and bright brown eyes
Who am I? Separated from my hometownPut into a concentration campWas imprisoned and persecutedI want freedom from the Nazis Who Am I? Separated from my familySold to a slave masterWas worked and persecuted I want freedom from slavery
Made of Steele
made to clink together
made to keep a race back
foever ? made to seprate
us and not bring us together.
There seems like there's no sunny
weather, cloudy skies and
Bulit up on a lie so how would
you expect us to survive ?!
Clenched with chains like
a beast who can not be tamed
Not knowing that we where the
First to be crowned king
A beautiful life,
tempered with strife.
Composition of love,
a story untold of.
Who knew a fable
Is a reality with a label.
Twin flames who found
each other abound
It is like the biting into the core
of a cold,chilled lemon, the realization
leaving its memory to taste like a deep, salty, sore.
It holds and grabs, a needle piercing deeply against
your skin, my skin
A word was born today. Can you guess the word? Let me give you a hint. It's mother was from Athens, Greece and the father was Latino.
Second Sunday of May my father brought my brother, mother, and I
to our favorite breakfast place to celebrate the holiday.
I was young, just five years old. My brother two years my elder.
Write-wash
Why do I write?
I write so that my caged thoughts can take flight.
So that my lyrical mind can unwind around the spherical bind of reality--
See, with me—I am far from the normality.
Can one attain the ability to
Invoke happiness onto
Himself or herself
Would denial have to tie into
This indefinable equation
Although to each his own
But what is its definition
You say you don’t like me
I ask you why, is it because of my hair
I don’t think that’s fair.
Is it my clothes, I guess no one knows
Why can’t you believe that I deserve it all?
Is it because I am young, I am black? Because I’ve answered the call?
You claim success is colorblind, that any can achieve,
A Velvet Flower
He could see through her heart as if it were diaphanous
Sheer like the velvet flower she had given to him before she had ran off into the night
He was my age when he died,
a boy who would now never grow up.
I don't know what it's like
to grow up hated and feared
by simple minds and closed hearts.
I don't know what it's like
I sit here, thinking heavy
My young brother, no intent of harming any
Walking with a hood on is that a threat?
But with his black skin many scream death
Skittles, tea
What harm could that be?
Black, white, red, yellow,
Gunshots at night, in a Harlem ghetto,
The frightening things that segregation brings,
Racial hate messages sting and hurt everything,
Lingering doubts even modern man pouts,
What is Black to me:
Urban sprawl or bliss country
Jheri curl or Afro puff,
Taste of freedom or a silver handcuff
Brothers whose chains shine bright
When King made his last speech that rainy night?
The world would be a much better place if we were all color blind
If people thought with their hearts instead of their eyes
If just because of who we are didn't make us an "other"
The life of the innocent is taken by the sinner... They said "Black skin, wild hair, how could they not be barbaric? For these chains all men, now and future, will share it. No peace for man.
I only play with my black keys,
My lovely black keys.
The only keys I can trust
Keys I can put my faith in
The white keys don't understand me
The white keys
forthcoming opposition is a blessing.
you should be worried when you're not sure
when the attack will start
the echoes of malice are a blessing.
you should be worried when the whispers of hatred
All they see me is as black.
No matter my heart,
no matter my intelligence,
regardless of my dreams and desires....
all they see me is as black.
Why is black so threatening?
Skin,
Epidermis wrapped around the inner bones
to perform life.
Skin,
Barrier to the outer adversaries
Of nature.
Skin,
A continuous uncomprehensive
Victimization from
Though I'm a woman I know that I am freeThe constitution is alive,a river flowing from sea to shining sea.and despite the fact I'm under 18I know it's not because of my skin that I can't vote,
What It's Like To Be a Mixed Girl (for those of you who aren't)
First of all, it's feeling like you fit in and then one day
someone different appears in the mirror.
Do you see that being black is a state of mind?
That we have moved beyond the whips and the chains,
and have moved on to the place where everyone is kind.
But wait.
Everything good is white.
Win, win, win, all the time, Never mediocre, that won’t do.
Be the best, if you’re not, then try harder.
Perfection is a choke hold,
They've enjoyed our waiting
They've indulged in lies
They've prolonged discussions
They've listened to our cries
I've lurked in the shadows too long
Sitting in a room with four walls and thinking of life as it falls.
We see it now and it’s gone tomorrow.
What was done to cause so much sorrow?
The times are changing and it’s becoming clear.
i take a trip to the beach at nightlet the sand pinch my toes and when the wind blows i get criticized for low eyes,
Pretty girls dance across the room
A parade of blonde hair, red hair, dark hair, light hair
Sleek and shiny
Bouncy and fluid
The kind of hair I dream about
Girls bend and sway in the morning sun
The world is so broad and wideFull of the imperfection only one could define,from the slashes here and there that lies up on one’s body, it’s hardly fairStanding As reminders of each scar
You say you don’t like us
That you can’t stand us at all
You say that we come here illegally
To steal all your jobs and stores
You say we don’t speak like you
No one told me about the
Importance of taking advantage of my education
While it was still free.
Instead they just continued to talk through me
Past me,
The world I live in is changing I can see that
It’s like we pulled terror right out of a hat
Our government is now more corrupt more than ever
Promising us that it’ll all get better and being all clever.
It’s price is great,
But we have it now.
All through the lives of many,
Depression, oppression, work, work, work.
We have endured,
And so we have earned our freedom.
What does being black really mean?
Is it what's being represented on TV?
Does it relate to a status quo,
or what you truly know?
Isn't it just the pigment of one's skin,
I walk, I sit my, back against this grain
These words speaking bliss, penetrating every inkling of thought that is bound in my brain
As the climatical moment fills my soul, I come upon recollection
Though my skin is white, I still have to fight.
For education, equality, acceptance. I promise I'm bright.
Actually, I'm Hispanic, but you couldn't tell by my skin.
Call myself hispanic, and it's considered a sin.
A blank white canvas
Said and done
Left for us to create
Much fun
To role out hills
Of greens and browns
And hang up stars
Of yellow crowns
We would make
The perfect place
Sides are picked, muskets raised
Grey and blue, wool blood stained
The Union must stay intact, but
Brother versus brother are being attacked
In the end, all people are free
In I walked to the class we call history
Ready to learn something about me
Heart skipping beats
Stomach leaping forward with a foolish anticipation
And sudden as the forces of gravity
It’s all ripped from me
(poems go here) We hold these truths to be self-evident, that if you are a minority then you are irrelevent. And If you're not using drugs, then you must be selling it. Living in a world, where girls are no longer celibate
What is race?
Does it tell us what to like?
Does it determine our future actions?
Or is it simply just something that pigeonholes us to carry the weight of the actions of our ancestors?
Look! Look! Look!
Brown, hazelnut eyes
Shutter and shift accordingly
As long, unorthodox lashes brush away dust mites
Teeth yellow growing green
Tongue hairier than the green goblin's spleen
Child you are beautiful
You are the darkest bark
Covered in a sheen from the purest honey
The earth grew grass to soften your tread
The trees grew leaves to lessen your heat
The flowers bloom every morning
They devoured her
They saw her with greedy eyes and decided to feast
They came upon her suddenly
She in all her glory
They covered in deceit
Wove illusions of inspired beauty
And stole from her
You think this is funny.
Making fun of the sticker that claims me.
You take it off me, so aggressively, as you place it on your neighbors arm.
“You are now number 4131” you giggle as you read the name of my new identity.
(poems go here) Liberal, conservative
Left-Wing, Right-Wing
Democrat, Republican
Politicians have made their career of public service
into an unjustified disservice
through decisions that have been delayed
or have still to be made
for we are the center of a joke
that has made us broke
I am a parasite. I feed from the fear and pain of the cowards; the unfaithful fall as I consume their souls. I devour their sense of direction, hindering their escape.
I am a parasite. I feed from the fear and pain of the cowards; the unfaithful fall as I consume their souls. I devour their sense of direction, hindering their escape.
The rumbling of the drums to the
gathering of the clans are
where we began.
Mothers and fathers together as one
uplifting their precious child.
Culture, visions, and lives all destroyed
Love is blind so they say,
the comments and looks seem to make me disagree
what price does your skin tone pay?
Judged because your Asian, White or Brown,
I thought we were all brother and sister.
The night sky is as innocent as a daytime cloud
To nature this is understood to nature this is sound
However, we are enveloped by a mindset quite more diverse
Our minds are blinded by sight, oh what a curse
When people told me being black was a form of inferiority
I wanted to hate white people,
I wanted to tear apart my own brown bones,
Spreading through the clatter of mismatched words,
And unclaimed, dusted culture,
In the beginning,
There was a God for all
A fierce parent
Loving and righteous.
But men bent him
In their own image-
A lily-white God with blond hair
Fair and beautiful
And biased.
When people look at me I know what they see
what's on the tip of their tongue, what the think of me
"Man she is dark, she is darker than me. Black, black, negro is who she be"!
(In the Future… AIDs only exist to help
In the Future… HIV forgot the E and refers to the residence of bee’s
In the Future… children like Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis are not murdered because men feel threatened
What. Is America?
Is it
the juxtaposition of pink toned flesh
against deep caramel skin?
Is it
the way his tresses twist and turn
whilst her strands lay straight and silky?
There is a man whose tongue is always aflutter,
Off his lips, his words drip like warm melted butter,
The masses cannot resist,
Such awesome, wonderful things he does insist,
Today the man takes the stage,
african-american, caucasian two colors become one they say a war between the two has ended but the war between all races has only just begun.
Alone, it is a masterpiece,
and it recreates its status.
Forgotten practicality,
Leaves it just a decoration.
I am optimistic and determined
I wonder how far away it is from me
I hear loud shouts of hope
I see that this will not be easy
I want to fulfill this dream
I am optimistic and determined
I was hated before I was born.
I knew scorn before the sun kissed my skin.
Am I a sin?
Even as a child I could see
This world was not made for me.
Its like they can only see in white and black
It's time to stop restricting those/ and unchain the chains around your cranium it's/ been locked inside that mental cage.../ bird sings if you let it/ get some lessons/but schools won't teach it to do so/necessarily/ true so, true say/ aaaahh/ op
I stand there,
taking your hateful, tasteless stares.
But I don't dare cringe,
for I fear that would be giving you what you want.
I walk directly into your vile comments,
Unlike you,
my copper skin glazes in the sun.
And my almond eyes twinkle.
Unlike you,
I sweat the fruits of my labor,
and make my living plucking from your collection
of cotton.
Unlike you,
Black, White, Indian Asian, Hispanic,
The color of someones skin is no reason to panic.
Why should anyone have to prove their worth,
We are all human beings on this planet called earth.
Something dangerous lurks in the shadows
It’s gangling grotesque figure lets out an eerie cry of warnings
Night after night
Hiding it’s sunburned flesh
It creeps in the shadows
I’m afraid of the dark
Equality
Just you and me.
Why is there discrimination
For race and orientation?
Why do we judge one another
When we could use care to smother?
Underneath it all we're the same,
I, myself, draw the line.
Neither bounded by chains or by reckless thoughts,
flooded by the ignorance of those unaware of my flow.
Is it the way that I speak which inflicts fear on Man?
I watch the depot shrink as we begin
The sweat now starts to form behind my knees.
The vinyl seats make patterns on my skin.
I look outside and see the moving trees.
We're doing the Lord's word indie this bus
Character
Deep within the focal point of your exterior lies character.
Character yet to be defined,
Character that has ceased to be be intertwined...
“I pledge alliance to the flag, of the United States of America, and to republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all.”
Days and days have went by
still here I stand in this cold night
telling you all about my misery
yes, for this will all stay in history
As our fathers and mothers fight for liberty
Days and days have went by
still here I stand in this cold night
telling you all about my miser
yes, for this will all stay in history
If I had your lips on mine
Everything would be just fine
Now, wouldn’t it be just divine, if I could have your lips on mine?
Wouldn’t it be so good if you weren’t considered “from the hood”?
I am the face of hard work and sorrow
Yeah a face that others have filled of horror
I am the face of the wanted person on the news
But look at me,really look, Can you see my bruise?
The question always pops up with black and white people. Who and how can an person use the term nigger and nigga.
Statements that stay behind closed doors, they stay in the room
Hover above your head
Seep into your mind fall into your river of thoughts
Sink deep into your conscious
Straying off to your emotions
Enter the Central District
Observe the milling of hims and hers coming together to create a sea of indecipherable faces
stretching out in front of me
I am a pale rose careful don't step on me
hello nice to meet you
Chasing the banner
But the race never ends
I manage a smile, engage in banter
Yet there is turmoil deep within
I have a fire, an eternal flame
That refuses to burn out
Fill my seams with lots of dreams
Like Martin Luther King did
Walk down avenues
No need to be in school, at least not on this special holiday
Because of that man
That man there, we can do near anything
You have the right to remain silent. More like the reason to stay silent actually.
Anything you say or are can be and will be used in not only a court of law, but throughout your entire life.
This world is made of color
Perhaps black and gray
Where one is more right than the other
And the other is left for decay
Discrimination
Five syllables more venomous than a rattlesnake bite.
More painful than a little girl not getting her kiss goodnight.
We all know what it is,
Yet we act as though the impact is nothing.
I'm what?!?
Oh you say i'm weird
as in erie, different, or abnormal, right?
Does it bother you....
you know, that i'm not like you or your crew
Am i offending you?
Well sorry to hear that!
Dear Jordan Davis,
When you felt 8 foreign metals scratch its way through your chest,
did it drown out the music?
All I ever wanted was to be beautiful.
Like new mothers,
like flickering candles in dark rooms
like flowers pressed into books
like new shoes...
To whom it may concern:
What is it about me that frightens you?
Is it the way I talk? The way I walk? The way I’m shy?
If you really get to know me I am a nice and sweet guy.
We live in a land,
supposedly free.
Good men died
for you and me.
WE can live our life,
to pursue our dream.
Unattainable to others
not for my brothers.
If you're gay, black, or anything else;
The way the ignorant bystander lurks,
Enclosed with thoughts and society pressure,
Cradles their mind possessing hundreds of blisters,
Thinking they might overcome the silence.
Intelligence used to be a virtue,
Ignorance used to hurt you,
But in the past few decades the roles have reversed . . . I though about rhyming but now it's a free-verse,
Piercing eyes glare at unfamiliar faces
Awaiting rejection
So use to backs being turned, hearts being broken
There's rejection.
Unrevealed truths, broken promises
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
Nigger, to me, sounds like nooses and hangings.
It sounds like, "Whites Only," and "No Coloreds Allowed."
It sounds like, "we shall overcome" marches -
like overcoming was the only thing my people knew how to do.
They call us blacks not only because of the color of our skin,
but because...once upon a time,
we were like shadows.
Black shadows that trailed behind white bodies.
Afraid, and hidden.
Her hair in neat braids, her frock a stainless white
Gazing at the wispy clouds that curl against a cerulean sky
She approaches the white picket fence and waves hello—
It is 1956.
Everything used to be so black and white
Suits that men wore, the color on a T.V. screen,
The photographs that took hours to print.
But so were the beliefs of our countrymen.
It was either black or white—no gray area.
At the beginning there was no love,
Only hate,
But from one man, a brave man,
Layed our society’s fate.
There was sadness and despair,
And enough hatred to kill,
They say choose your battles carefully, but our side of the starting line was chosen for us. Pick by some biased hand in advance, with no perspective for the past or future. We were held hostage in the present with no escape but survival itself.
She was Born to be Judged
Judged to be Born,
She inspired those of her color,
Those of her class,
Those of her gender,
To be something more,
To defy what people thought of her,
After the storm comes the rainbow,
Vivacious colors splitting the grey.
After the clouds shines the sun,
Shining light through the tears of the sky.
Storms are alive, in you, in me, in the world.
Trapped.
That’s how I felt.
Living under oppression
under someone’s thumb-
Unable, incapable, inexplicably inept
powerless.
Is a picture a picture if it's all just white?
It’s just a blank canvas, that isn't right,
Just sitting there, alone, without any life,
And it sure ain't worth no pretty price.
Your color does not make you
Your language does not define you
Your neighborhood should not break you
You are you
not what they say
not what they think
you are you
I praise every Black mother who raises her son,
Having to warn him of the dangers his beautiful skin has won.
Teaching him to be sensitive and ensuring he grows strong.
My splattered blood dries
over the newly cemented pavement
where my head collided,
after my back got soaked and bruised
from the fire hydrant
cause I'm fighting the tyrant
of segregation. You can crush
I am stricken with the paint of bigots,
Cast in the colors they throw on me.
I am mulatto, all coffee and cream.
But when I am looked at, not seen, but looked at,
I stand amid the encroaching walls that bind my soul to perish among the dull unknown of confinement.
Everyday we walk
Everyday we keep silent
Everyday we wait
We wait, for God gave us patience
We wait, for success comes in time
We wait, for our voices are still merging into one
Equality, easy as the breaths we take? It's a mind set of minds we make. We have the power to teach and train. We have the power to stop with our blame. You inherit control to set the new path.
I ain't done nothing to you
I ain't even looked at you funny
All I ever done is be me and all you ever done is
Hate me
The simple air of a whistle.
Clean outside air, sweet perfume, cigarette smoke
From the usual porch sitters
Outside Bryant’s grocery store.
Why does the mockingbird sing?
Why does she lift her head to die?
Is it the color of her wings?
Or is it the passion in her cry?
Today is the day for change,
Eyes up, Signs high,
Voices loud,
Jim Crowe has no hold anymore,
Chains are crumbling,
This is a revolution,
We are more than 3/5 of a man,
We are human,
The lash of the whip
doesn't define who I am
the burning sun's rays upon my back
don't tell me what my purpose is
it's the tender hugs of my children
that remind me of who I am
a mother, wife, sister, aunt
Birds have beautiful colors.
Their feathers of red and blue and golden yellow
ruffle together against the sky.
Let me break into your thoughts,
I’m a mindbomb, ticking time bomb.
Seven years I wore the the veil
shielded myself and kept pale
news shunned like yesterday’s mail
happier than my previous trail
Bars, the social norm
Keeping us in, keeping them out
When will it end
This nasty game they’re playing?
But we wont back down, no
The blood fueling our bodies with oxygen
Is the same. We all feel the pain.
Under protection of our own,
government was created to dethrown.
As a people, we chose to vote.
"Majority rule!" the people quote.
Soon, people debated, hated and fell into moral confusion.
The bus is hot as it rolls, and with the number of bodies is
Sticky air and sweat-wet seats and the raw smell of humans.
We are the freedom riders, the
Beaten at bus stops and booed as we walk.
The cage is open
But not to free me.
To free me from the bonds
That once held my cellmate
Whom I expect now runs
Far away from the hate
She was a Rose
A beautiful, brown Rose
She stepped up on the bus of separation
She sat down, for our freedoms
She rode the mistreated waves of segregation
She quietly refused, for our people
I have a nightmare.
Twoscore and ten years ago, Mr. King helped revolutionize our country.
Equality for all, he said.
No black, no white, no yellow, no red.
Equality. Shades of gray given what they deserve.
I’m color blind
What can I say?
Under the sun’s rays
We are all the same.
Black or white
Does it truly matter?
Rosa Parks was right
She knew better.
I kept silent
haunted by my self
the past
In pain, I once was
recalling a voice that was once home
mama
are you there?
Once happy
then taken
from the land of the sun
Now chained
and broken
the long night has begun
Faster
and harder
the work never ends
Fighting
to escape
the master's demands
I don’t mean to discredit them
We give credit where credit is due
But there is much more to do
This is not just a race
This is a relay
Blind in the eyes of god is the color of our skin
And who said you were in charge of deciding where I eat, drink, watch a movie, sit on a bus?
You think we’re dif-fer-rent but we’re all-the-same
There is a path just found behind the school
Rumors say what happened there was very, very cruel
I go to see the famous place
And find footsteps at the base
I follow it and hear a crack
One.
You mock me, shame me, spit on me;
You deny my humanity and curse me.
You cannot see past my dark hue.
Two.
You mock Him who made me
By burning that cross on my lawn.
How would you feel walking down the street?
Minding your own business just being a teen
When a group of people behind you come to attack
Only because in their eyes you’re a “fag”
Dear God,
Is it time for us to live?
And break those shackles that bound our hands and ankles?
Trying to escape, danger lurking around every angle
Whip marks on our backs, blood leaking from the wounds
I am blessed
To have been born
Inside a place
Previously torn
But now repaired
With the thinnest thread
I remember this
As I go to bed
Before, it was solid with no change
Those, not content were looking to rearrange
Although it seemed like nothing for a bunch
It was the struggle for a checkered lunch
What they were called…
Negroes. Stupid. Ignorant. Less-than. Inadequate. Niggers.
What they really were…
Citizens. People. Mothers. Children. Husbands. Workers. Human-beings.
What they endured…
I saw upon a dying street
Beneath the trees' barren
Humiliation,
A young man
(who reminds me of my grandfather)
Raking all the leaves
Into a sad pile
And laughing,
He sets it on fire
Represent
The palm of my hands is the palm of yours
Represent
They represent these United State shores
Comes the tall ‘n mighty stovepipe hat
One of the world’s greatest diplomat
A month after I was born, in 1955,
Mother told me
Of the beginning of the bus boycott
Because a woman of color
Refused to give up her seat
To a white man.
And that was the year
Black or white,
colors fade to gray,
we stand together,
United as one,
nothing can break determination,
no one can stop our stride,
equality is one small step,
Two little ones hand in hand running
In the bright golden morning over Washington.
Their counterparts dancing in the Pool of Reflection
They were leaping and wheeling in the calm morning sun.
I stand for the people who walked down the street for equality.
Dr. King said it best in his “I Have a Dream” speech.
I stand for the kids who were pushed to the back of bus
The Civil War is 19th century news
Only talk about it in history when my brain is on a cruise
See the Civil Rights Movement ended years ago
And there’s just no more desire to know
If you closed your eyes
Would you know who I am?
If you closed your eyes
Would you see who I am?
Is it possible
To see who I truly am
With your eyes closed
When you can't really see me
If it wasn't for the magic
when this universe was born-
the gravity that held it down
the sun that kept it warm
Racism why is it even here
all it does is bring us tears
Whatever happen to a world of peace
its time we bring a new life lease
We stand in unity to raise hope
so that we may live in a place of harmony
We Stand as One
Walking the streets to feel complete
No more segregation
We have now formed a whole nation
With a man that had a dream
That lead the movement to be free
We stand as one.
Flawless sun kissed skin
In infinite shades of brown.
Beauty Sculpted by God
Crafted in his favor.
Black boy
(Hook)
Last night
Night before
24 robbers at my door
I got up and let em in
Hit em in the head with a rolling pin
I tack a portrait of you to the classroom wall
--You--
Gorgeously lit in the the frame of a window
Appear in the grays and blacks and whites of the photograph
Peering questioningly at all who view You.
So is that who I am?
To be stereotyped just from my interest.
Is that who I am?
The one who's labeled just for being me.
Rosa Parks. Malcolm X. Dr. King. Jesse Jackson. Mamie Mobley.
Tears shed, blood spilled, injustice fought.
But for what?
We were once a people.
We taught together.
We fought together,
For freedom.
Our people won.
Black teachers, doctors, politicians.
The sky was the limit.
We were family.
Daddy was always there.
You may know me,
But you can’t see the pain.
You can’t see my struggles
And you can’t see my strife.
For my identity, it isn’t superficial,
It’s an identity that is rooted deep,
Below your hateful words
It is the year 1896,
And a black child born
In rural Louisiana
Sometime in 1865
Has just had her
Thirty-first birthday.
She should be happy--
Her newborn babe
Is healthy and although
There goes that ribbon floating through the air. Her dress flowing in the breeze. She's curious, she wants to go, no violence does she see. "No, my child, you must stay here. For surely that's not for you.
We washed upon the shores
And traveled in rivulets through the veins of a nation.
We filled her cracks and hollows
And saturated what was parched and wanting.
People
A head, a heart, a body, a soul
Working, breathing, loving, hating
Brothers and sisters
Created as equals
With only small differences
We live, we love,
We take part in others lives
With silence, we took our beating, harsh cracks and whips replaced with slurs and snide remarks.
We stand in protest, holding hands in unity while they their voices carry-- sharp barks.
When I see into my future
I have to look behind
To those who sacrificed
And even risked their lives
The freedoms I am given
By right of Birth and Law
No matter what my gender
To be of fierce defender
When you see a rainbow after a storm
You can’t escape it
It illuminates there in the sky for all to see
Each color together in perfect harmony
Now what would a rainbow be
Here is a man
Proud and strong
black
Here is the Law
Strict and harsh
White
Here is the school
Whites only
Fair
Here is Oliver Brown
Stop this
Please
My room mate, my friend.
She doesn't see me,
She sees my almond eyes.
Her white-tinted glasses tells her eyes,
those orbs of ice, what is Asian.
Despite the spots on the map
that my people come from.
Ever since I came out the womb,
they said it was power to the people
But what power do you have
when you aren't allowed to speak back when being speaked to
We've spoken, the world has been broken
At first just yelling.
Spiteful cries,
Words like cleavers,
Got under her fingernails,
and the mahogany skin on her cheeks.
And then the stones came,
an ambush,
penetrating deeper
African American did not have rights
All of them suffered from the lies
Until Martin Luther king Jr wasn't afraid of heights
He stood up and put his foot down on there civil rights.
the young black child goes to school with its head hung low
feeling worthless and life missing its glow
the child felt its skin was to dark
that being white was a work of art
Why are we here? Tell me what is the purpose?
Our fathers, grandfathers and children hang from wood.
Some of our leaders tell us it will be all good, to wait it out.
The story of then,
The story of now,
and then the story yet to be unveiled:
Tap-tap. Tap-tap. Tap-tap.
Yes I am angry. But you wouldn't know.
Staring down at the floor, how could anyone tell?
I clench my fists. Tap my foot.
I smile. I say "yes, sir" and "yes, ma'am."
One heart, one mind
All of our fates, intertwined
Campaigns, rallies all for one cause
Because we as a nation, belong under God
Who made man in his own image
Gave us the power to make our decisions
We are the people of this world
We are the people of America
What are rights?
Does rights have a color, a ethnic a gender, a race?
NO
Rights are something that is given but yet earned.
It is 1960 and there are two drinking fountains.
Colored on the left, white on the right.
A young black girl shuffles her feet forward slowly in line.
They drag along the dirt and make lines in the ground.
I am pale as the moon in a sky of darkness
White against the shadows of the night
His skin is dark like a moonless sky
But his spirit is forever bright
Freedom IS costly
Costly?
The lives that were Volunteered,
made freedom costly
The lives that were damaged beyond Repair,
made freedom costly
The urge to hold the family Dear,
made freedom costly
They march and march, but not without a reason.
With no guns or knives, but they're still accused of treason.
Signs in their hands, begging for a change.
Visions in their heads of better days.
What is this white cap I wear
That makes everyone stare,
When I can down the green crown
Of liberty to set everyone free?
Nobody gone hold me down
I am a man and constantly getting put down
In this world I am surrounded by hate
You take one look at me and discriminate
Paying me the lowest of the lows
Hands planted on her lap, looking at the wrinkles
Reminds her of the days she spent on her knees
Watching the houses and the trees
Looking so young but feeling so old
She does her daily do’s
Stirring and pouring
Standing alone on the corner
Listening, waiting, hoping
The message, loud and clear
But everyone else refuses to hear
All created equal they claim
But their actions don’t match the words they say
I am not just a number for you to process
I have feelings.
Nothing you say can change how I feel.
Just because you think you can shut me up with
words
hate
violence
secrets
Why you so surprised?
You thought change was gonna come
But let me explain something to you
History repeats itself
And it’s just a matter of time
Before you’re back in the fields.
Why you so surprised?
You thought change was gonna come
But let me explain something to you
History repeats itself
And it’s just a matter of time
Before you’re back in the fields.
Why you so surprised?
You thought change was gonna come
But let me explain something to you
History repeats itself
And it’s just a matter of time
Before you’re back in the fields.
Why am I so different?
Confused by the color of my skin, I am ashamed.
Though He says we should love everyone, but one does not love me.
I am in pain.
I had a dream
Where a world was free
It never mattered who you are
but what you will become
I am fighting for a dream
where I can be free
It doesn't matter who I am
Just what I want to become
I was the slave girl taken from the South to the West
I was the sister that was beaten tortured and ripped from the home of my loved ones
I was the young mother dragged and taken in chains forced to kill the life inside of me
I walked miles to school every morning, past the closed doors of the all-white school.
Dirt clouds ruined my clothes and my shoes became worn and my hair mangled.
When the world goes blind,
It will only be love that we find.
Everyone will look the same.
We will no longer play a vision game.
You're a strong young woman. You know you are.
He's just some jerk in class that always has to have the last say.
But there's something about his wit and attitude that you like.
You know it's dangerous.
DISCRIMINATION, that is a word that sliced deep into the hearts of many, pouring out the blood flow of confusion and a sense of deception. Just because my skin is brown and hers right beside me is white, we're different?
I was raised to hate the black man,
To spit as he passed me in the street.
I was raised to hate his wife, too,
The woman I never thought to meet.
For hundreds of years the black man has been crying
with inner tears, striped from his manly dignity and
identity, his self love has been ripped.
For centuries the black woman has been
demoralized then defamed.
As well as watching her dignity being put to shame.
Who should define my race?
Is it the man who auctions my ancestor from a stand
and then lynch’s them on poisoned land.
Who should define my race?
Is it the person who label’s us because of the color of
our face.
The Black man stands strong on the slave block being
ridiculed and torched similar to King Jesus.
Living in the forlorn world of slavery, being
discriminated against by some of the white
race- due to my colored face.
Because of the pigment of my skin, they do not see me
Since I am "different", I am separated
And although they give many reasons
I know that it is not because of
My hair, or the way I dress, but
Yell at me, throw stuff at me
I am allowed here
Don't point over there
Just because a word separates us
We are the same
Like crayons are only colors our skin is too.
We should all be equal shades to the human sight,
but fighting over colors is a destructive thing to do.
The sun began to set as little Johnny trudged on
three hours ago he found out that his mother was gone.
Dead by water maybe dog or cane
but all johnny knew is they didnt even know her name.
Executive Order for no order,
Was a citizen now, an enemy
all after a day that lives in infamy,
Hawaii, California, West Coast, no longer.
so called just desserts, in the desert
My God isn't her god, Isn't His God, Isn't your God. My God has a different name, a different form, and claim to fame.
Children,
Windows are now doors
Streets are now sidewalks
They are now history
D-day,
Don't forget your toothbrush.
When Obama won they said it’s over. He won. He’s in.
I say no. One triumph does not erase past sin.
The pen has hit the paper, the paper has been passed saying in the United States of America, slavery no longer lasts.
The disease of men
That put us in pens
The beatings and bruises
That was so abusive
A disease of their mind
Our punishment wasn’t kind
Back then it seemed
That it was okay to be mean
My Bones Ache
My Hairs Grey
My Pride is Gone
Can I Rest Now?
You Ask For My Seat
I Say No
My Hands Are Cuffed
Can I Rest Now?
We fight For Whats Right
Boycotting Transportation
When February rolls around, I think of all of them.
The brave strong men and women, who fought for my freedom.
Not just Martin and Rosa, Little Rock too,
But all those unsung heroes, just like me and you.
As we are black ,
we tend to be underestimated
as we fought for our rights they couldn't hold us back
Our forefathers bled for us.
They took the pain of being
different away.
They fought against the
stubborn who would never
allow black people to have
rights.
They say we are equal.
Why the bullying?
Do you think it's fun?
Is it satisfying?
The way you treat them?
They say we are equal.
We take for granted the freedoms we have
The biggest freedom of all to some
Are civil rights and liberty
African Americans will stand on my behalf.
We often do not look back at the past as if we were there
Who gave you the right to take away mine?
Who gave you the right to tell me where to sit
To eat
To go to the bathroom
And even drink some water
Can you imagine what it's like to struggle?
To be confined to a suffocating bubble.
To not be able to live peacefully and equally with man
Or be condemned because of your love of man.
We are taught that we are one.
They say I’ve got dirty tears,
The ones that run down my face are not the same,
The blood I bleed is much too dark
My bruises far too faint,
And I’ve got dirty tears
Don’t get me started about my skin
This sistah would like to say
That finally Revolution is on its way
Dig, my People?
Just as the "New Negro" replaced the "Coloreds"
Black is replacing the "New Negro"
Shoot,
Sweltering day
Solution: ice cream
Fell into unwanted trouble
Pain splattering across my back
Anger biting my arm
I hear laughing
Nothing is funny
Society
By: Megan Williams
Society
Please tell me
What have we become?
We sold our souls
Our inner being
And for what?
Society
Please tell me
Why are we so mean?
My rights are my rights/ got infinite time to put up a fight/ going through the system/ listen to your mther respect your father/ dont speak out/ dont stand tall/ fit the mold of the kid that will work till they get to old/ my dream job unattain
The pain they felt
I cannot imagine
They fought for rights
With such great passion
They fought for right
With all their strength
They fought to be equal
To fight this hate
The fight for rights
The pain they felt
I cannot imagine
They fought for rights
With such great passion
They fought for right
With all their strength
They fought to be equal
To fight this hate
The fight for rights
I can hear America working
their shuffling feet and their clasping hands
I can hear America singing
with their tutting horms and their high pitched whistles
I can hear America speaking
They stand tall,
They stand proud,
Sadly they fall,
Within a big crowd,
On that day in ’65,
In that month of March,
We watch as some die,
In the midst of a march
If that mysterious man of old awoke
What tales would he tell?
If that mysterious man of old awoke
What praise would he sell?
What are our civil rights?
Can they be won without a fight?
The world is trying but people are dying.
Children are crying and the whole world is lying
in the bed of all that is bad.
Growing up, all I ever heard was how the "white man" would keep us down.
How all they ever wanted to do was see me frown.
How I was suppose to accept this as life truth
and never enjoy the fruits of my youth.
I left the Home, a shabby lumbering shack,
Taking only the clothes on my back
And the chime of Symmetrical thoughts,
And walking with Ambitious steps,
Trampling the Dirty paths, and
In a time of hardship,
Many fear the fight,
Many face the fight,
Going day by day struggling,
Many face the fight,
Trying to ignore the ignorant people,
Many face the fight,
You sit up on the bed you were sleeping on
The Pain inside of you shudders your every bone.
The youth that once was is now forever gone
You vainly try to remember all those moments you were happy,
How do you describe my skin? Do you only describe me as light skinned? Do you not see the pain and scars that are visible to the surface? I know I'm not perfect... I'm different My skin is my shield hiding all the, pain, sorrow, the quilt?
Beaten and tired of being called on last,
Mocked and threatened, living this way is no easy task.
Viewed from the bottom of society’s totem pole,
White faces all around and they expect us to stay small.
A whistle to myself,
I whistled a song,
A song about a woman,
frightened by the black night,
frightened by what she don't understand,
she calls upon the daylight,
and then it comes,
Many a man has lived that has given his life for another.
Not many a person, though, who has changed the world forever.
whispering wind will pass
the booming thunder will overpass
your voice will shutter and ever-last
but i wonder who will hear it
make souls shiver at your voice
to hear the goodness of men
This is the public, right?
Than why shall I be set aside.
This is wrong, we will fight!
We just want to eat.
We all need to care.
So here is where we’ll sit,
Until we’re treated fair.
The weight of history
is what we carry everyday.
Like ankle weights that shackle us to an antiquity we never lived.
Past
Unlived shared experiences that we know all too well.
How do I repay
the deeds done by
the civil rights leaders
of the bonded past?
How do I shine light
on the dull, average people
who became heroes
by taking a chance?
I felt connection there,
my yellow skin flashing in stark contrast with
the black in my right hand,
the white in my left.
There is a life. A life of a new age in which all men are free. I never dreamed that I would see this day, ho how my soul looks back in wonder. Our Ancestors, who bore the strife and the hardships of this life, they call to us.
Darkness was all that was there
Black, the color of a rising movement
Hate, the feeling that overflowed the nation
White, actions patterned with violence
Hope, fuel for peaceful end to hate
Darkness was all that was there
Black, the color of a rising movement
Hate, the feeling that overflowed the nation
White, actions patterned with violence
Hope, fuel for peaceful end to hate
From the beginning of time we have been judged by the color of our skin.
Not caring for what was within.
People have told us for years we are not wanted here, but what makes them think we had a choice?
There once was a man who said, "I have a dream."
This man's dream was to be more than what he seem.
To not be classified simply by color, but to be equal by each other.
I AM,
Somebody.
Initiating the vigorous montage of syllables sliding down our tongues.
corruptedly speaking
our words of passion
and love of grace.
Bullets of sweat trailing down the shell, we can not change
Some say black,
Some say brown.
They call us monkeys,
Some still slaves.
They call us stupid and uneducated,
But really there is some irony in that.
Lost soul
Lost faces
One Color
Lost Races
Here but not in existence, just traces
Draws warnings on these spaces
Knows but doesn't feel
Wounded but never healed
Eyes open or close they see
The ride to freedom was long
Time would never heal
The wounds and the cries
From men and children alike
Full of tears, pain, shame
Uh. Uh. Agency. History. Word. Here we go:
United States, United States
Tryin' to show the world its pretty face
But 'merica's history ain't always a pretty view
Open Zinn and Russell and let's review
first foot, second foot march.
here and there everywhere just march.
to get where we half way are today they had to march.
to get where we want to be tomorrow and never be sorrow we have to march.
I love your brown skin
I can't wait to see you again
Again to see your brown skin
Marred by the stormy weather discrimination
Oh you know I love your brown skin
Some will call you a yellow bone,
A century before,
Not quite a distant enough memory
brother fought brother
on an all too familiar soil.
I'm not walking because I'm going somewhere
I'm walking forwards
I'm not walking to show them what I can do
I'm walking to show them what I won't do
I have peace within my soul
Each step I take
Fight, they said.
Puncture the minds of those who choose not to listen.
Free your voice.
Let yourself be known.
Fight, they said.
Persist upon your rights to be.
Unbound, unarmed.
Fight.
Black and white
White and black
Ying and yang
Colors that make this world bright
Why should color of skin matter
When trying to achieve rights?
Every minute of my fifteen years on earth has been spent examining the various colors around me
The chestnut trees that stretch their tired branches shed a great deal of vibrant green offspring
The Bible reads
"All Men Are Created Equal"
So why do you detest me so?
My heart beats
My brain thinks
I have emotions
Just like you.
Why do you treat me so differently?
I see on TV
Why does skin color matter?
We are people, arent we?
Black brown or white
We differ but its alright
My life is in pictures color and black and white. I hear the ocean roar and see my family's fight. Struggle to third floor just another day. Mother worn weak and ragged like the scarecrow hanging by a few pieces of straw.
One mind,
Same heart,
Why are we blind
to see that,
But yet quick to see color,
Black, White, Orange, Green, Red,
We all bleed red.
Pain experienced,
Violence involved,
Tragic heartbreak.
"After working all day.."
Tired, i bet,
All day had she worked, worked up a darn good sweat,
Oh Lord, this woman said no.
Imagine this life
Divided by segregation
No equality
No independance
A life not worth living in
Ruled by skin color
E - Everyone is loved in God's eyes.
Q - Quietness about this issue is not needed.
U - Understand how important it is to stand up.
A - Anticipation for a better future.
L - Let people know what you stand for.
Cradled by life, mind so naive
Fierce within, yet shackled by body.
A voice so strong, a will so powerful,
Humanity's gift so humble yet so. Very striking.
Ghouls gaze upon onyx skin and fall behind deviled eyes.
I am a product of the Earth, much like you.
My people blossom in the motherland, soaking in the bright sun.
Our vines weave around the rough terrain, entangling in each other
We grow in these dense fields.
You look inside the bus
You find a sea of people
Much like an ocean
Both filled with life
Colors are scattered about
As people move around
Much like a rainbow
Both vibrant and beautiful
Little do we know,
A Civil Rights Movement
Is happening right now.
During these times,
Protestors remain silent,
Hiding in shadows.
Paralyzed by fear
Of being snatched
Away from family.
Fear
Filled within their hearts
Individuality, discouraged by the Xeroxes
Adversity, scorned
Change, frightening
The Unique
With an appetite
For speech
For Identity
For Recognition
The smoke burns
My throat is sore
Daddy says run
But they’re doing more.
I never knew
How bad it was
How much hurt
Came from us.
‘Cause Daddy says
This is okay.
And any lies
I'm going to take you back in history and I don't just mean yesterday's history.
I'm talking about to the history of our ancestors
To the History of slavery
where the color of our skin made my ancestors slaves.
They were treated different,
Because they looked different.
They were a different race
They were made no space
To live together in their world
They weren't equal enough, and were hurled
You try to tell me, that we are not one
You try to tell him that he is not like me
You want to separate us
But what you don’t see is that we are truly together
You are me, I am you, you are him and her!
A few weeks ago I was reading a book on theater
And someone saw me reading and told me, "Black people don't read".
That made me sad.
Then the quote started to sink into my thoughts
and it started to make me mad.
Living in the Shadows, the man of color
Looks for work, only to be turned down.
Another day for food stamps
and support from his wife
Living in the Shadows, the man of color
They tied him down with the same thick threads and chains that he busted out of a few scores ago
Unknown white men in white capes with white tips strung him up upon a thick black stump
You stand with Me.
Hands connected. contrasting skin.
Warm from the fight that flows through our veins
Damp from the tears of our palms.
Against Oppression neither of us can take.
You stand with Me.
I remember you sitting next to me learning about our history,
about the protest that our ancestors took part in.
For you and I to live free, with equal rights as whites.
Belittlement, beatings and such things as slavery.
Black and white are as opposite as the sun and the moon.
People can be so thick skulked, like stuck in a cocoon.
Even if the colors are on the opposite sides of the color wheel.
But judgment is what all people can feel.
You took charge.
You had power with your words.
You are a hero in so many eyes.
Your spirit will never die.
You are the only reason I'm here.
You made it possible for me to be here.
Together we soar,
Together we strive,
Together we are great,
Together we are alive;
But not today, no,
We have lost all equality,
Judgments and discrimination,
Create a growing fatality;
I've overcome…
From the whips and chains..
I've overcome…
From the bitter taste and sinking pains..
I've overcome…
From the shackles and wounds that burn all day..
I've overcome…
We were making history.
One thought that kept us going
as others viewed us with faces of disgust,
for we knew that the same faces of disgust
would be present upon the people reading about us.
I stare in front of me as I put one foot
In front
of the other
I look down
At my wrists
And see them yoked to my brother’s
And my sister’s
I think about how proud my mother
Would have been
It hurt, you know.
The way you treated me.
The way you made fun of me, the way you hurt me, the way you talked about me like I wasn't there.
It was like I wasn't even human to you.
Falling.
The fresh taste of blood salts my lips.
Rage. How dare I dream about a future that may never come?
For dreams bring the pain, despair of hope.
Hope for the better.
Anything better.
Racism is something that one can't speak on unless they experienced themselves
Looking to be treated equally like everyone else is simply like a toddler reaching for a 6 foot shelf
Passing by their faces show,
The ignorance hidden deep below.
I read their faces like a book,
Absorbing every dirty look.
Fear and guilt consume their eyes,
Unconcealed through pretty lies.
Though some see no light,
On they must fight.
Though they faintly hear the ring,
The freedom bells bring.
Man, woman, and child,
Their ideas seem wild.
Their lives not in vain,
I strive to take a breath as my lungs fill with the heavy smoke
The fire burns so hot sweat begins to trickle off my arms
The burns sting and the heat dries out my eyes.
The power of the right,
Was not acknowledged by the Might.
They fought and fought,
Yet they were left distraught.
No one’s pointing a finger,
But did you do more than linger?
The world was so cruel
All the blacks were treated like fools
They were enslaved by whites
They had no civil rights
But now look where they are
They have made it so far
They fought for civil rights
(poems go here) Shut Out by Injustice
The only way I will ever feel in this empty world of hatred is belittled.
The whiplash created from the names being thrown out left to right.
"All of you boys best move right now!" yelled the officer.
I did not move, for I was unafraid.
Dr. King said we must not move, so I do not move.
"If ya'll don't want to listen, I'll get the hose"
Law
Righteousness
They are not the same
One
Yet two
To the naked eye
The other is blind
They can come
From two different minds
And never intertwine
For some reason
The night was thick like a nightmare,
The shadows lurked with fear,
The gentle wind felt cold on our dark skin,
Our hearts raced like a caged bird’s wings.
A protector from discrimination
You come for my salvation
In your eyes there is no difference of color
No shame in sexual orientation
No barriers for speech,
No integrity that is beat down
When dreams long since are spent
and broken-
when a weary people can no longer
wait-
they will rise up, rise
from raisins and sores and rotten meat,
and they will speak.
(A colored skin individual with dreams and aspiration in their eyes
Faced with the choices of the now and the then
Reminded of the options and choices they never had
No opportunity to frolic among the most educated
In the beginning, there was darkness.
There was no room for sense,
No room for differences.
But one day, a light suddenly appeared.
There was laughter and tears,
Celebration and mourning,
Winter isn’t just coming
It’s here.
And it is all I hear about.
“Everything is cold,” you say,
Everything is wet,
Everything is slow!”
But you know
There’s something to this business of being slow.
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
I'm sick of my own voice
blaring in my ears,
screaming, distorted, through the T.V.
Female middle class white noise.
like the word wealth
my true nature is hidden
behind
Digital image or lyrical gimmicks
The fiddler collects winnings
when the starved jack pots
though
ein
by
jeden
