Why we say Black Lives Matter?
Taken.
Sold to the land of the free,
Where we were shackled
And chained.
Years and years
Of slaving in sugar cane and
Cotton fields.
Years and years
Of being told we're not human--
Only property,
no more than cattle.
Then, set free to make a home
That was never really our home.
Freed, poor, and still hated
For our black skin,
Fated to make a way
In a place where we were not
Wanted.
As strange smelling fruit, we hung
From trees in light and dark
Because our lives did not matter.
Kill a black man,
kill a black woman
And like Tupac said,
"You're a hero!"
Black boy whistled at white woman,
So he was beaten to death,
His face distorted.
We marched, prayed and bled
For our Civil Rights--
To vote,
To be educated,
To not be killed.
Dogs were let loose to bite us,
Folks spat at us,
Why?
Because our lives didn't matter.
And now we have our Civil Rights-
We vote.
We work.
We go to school.
But why are they still killing us?
Walking in a neighborhood,
Wearing a hoodie means
You are dangerous.
With your skittles in hand,
You deserve to be killed, right?
Selling DVDs on a corner,
Reaching for your license,
Playing with a toy gun,
Running around your neighborhood,
Sleeping in your own bed,
Praying in a place of worship,
You deserve to be killed, right?
Wrong!
Our lives matter.
Black lives matter.
We are not animals.
We are people.
Stop killing us, we plea.
We're set free, but we're not free.
We hear sirens and we cringe.
Cop pulls us over and we cringe,
Will I be the next hashtag?
I don't want to be a hashtag.
I don't want to be another
Dead black man,
Dead black woman.
We have dreams.
We have hopes.
But why won't the land of the free
See us?
Why are we so dangerous to you?
We try and try, yet still
Our lives are not valued.
Hung from a tree, or
Shot dead,
Doesn't matter.
But we do matter!
We love.
We have families.
We are beautiful.
We are wise.
We are strong.
We are human.
We think.
We feel.
We cry.
We hurt.
We are people.
We matter.
Stop killing us,
Our lives matter.