THERE IS NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN, A BLACK LIVES MATTER POEM
We are gunned down in broad daylight just for taking a run.
Chased down like animals.
Labeled criminals.
Held hostage like prisoners.
Told we look suspicious How does a suspicious person look?
Skin rich in melanin.
Eyes cocoa brown.
Hair of curly texture.
Tall or short.
Full figured or thin frame.
Young or old.
Male or female.
There is nothing new under the sun.
Photo by João Paulo de Souza Oliveira on Unsplash
We are viewed as threats.
From the day we were born, there has been a target on our backs.
Citizens arrest they call it.
They say they feared for their life.
While you bled onto the concrete.
They went back to their lives as they knew it.
You were never heard from again simply because you were racially profiled while running in your neighborhood.
This is a free country they say.
There is nothing new under the sun.
We are mimicked and told the killers were well within their rights.
What about our rights?
I forgot we are not deserving of those same inalienable rights our ancestors bled, fought, and died for.
400 years of slavery.
Yet our debt still remains unpaid.
There is nothing new under the sun.
Testing our patience.
Refuting our dignity.
Diminishing our pride.
Hey, you don’t belong in this neighborhood.
They say there has been a lot of crime around here recently.
You fit the description of the perpetrator.
What was the description you ask?
It was a nigger!
There is nothing new under the sun.
Hands up don’t shoot.
Yet we are still shot.
Victims of police brutality.
True details remain a mystery.
Robbed of our futures.
After our deaths when we can no longer defend ourselves.
They dig up dirt to plaster on the TV and print in the newspapers.
For nothing more than the pigment of our skin.
There is nothing new under the sun.
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
Walk for Ahmaud Arbery.
Jog for Ahmaud.
Run for Ahmaud.
Sing for Ahmaud.
Shout for Ahmaud.
Never forget Ahmaud.
Please also do the same for George Floyd, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, Breona Taylor, Kenneth Walker, Mike Brown, Freddie Gray, Corey Jones, Trayvon Martin, Stephon Clark, Jordan Davis, Myra Thompson, Botham Jean, Jordan Edwards, Atatiana Jefferson, Alton Sterling, Aiyana Jones, Oscar Grant, Keith Scott, Sean Bell, Walter Scott, Eric Garner, Emmett Till, Anthony Hill, and Philando Castile.
Please do the same for those whose names I cannot name.
There is nothing new under the sun.
That doesn’t make their life any less significant.
That doesn’t change the fact that their killers are beyond ignorant.
Their hate runs extremely deep.
Yet my love runs deeper for the mother, father, sister, brother, daughter, aunt, uncle, grandmother, grandfather, grandson, and granddaughter who were either victims of racism themselves or the family members of those that were slain.
There is nothing new under the sun.
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
I know their heart aches.
I know their pain is indescribable.
I know they have cried a river.
I know their grief is insurmountable.
I know their agony is inconsolable.
The actions of these murderers seem uncontrollable.
There is nothing new under the sun.
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
We see no end in sight.
Justice doesn’t matter because it’s just us right?
Yet no deed goes unseen and no crime goes unpunished.
There is one that sits high and looks low.
There is not one thing that he doesn’t know.
There is nothing new under the sun.
Our ideas, concepts, and dreams have been stolen.
They attempt to kill our magic yet it will never die.
I will teach my daughter all about her heritage and her culture.
It is my hope that she will teach her sons and daughters.
And the process will be repeated for generations to come.
Those whose lives that were snuffed names will remain etched into my heart.
Their families will remain in my prayers. I vow not to forget. I vow to remain hopeful.
I vow to remain loving.
I vow to stand my ground.
I vow to exert my power.
I vow to use my voice to SAY IT LOUD: I’M BLACK AND I’M PROUD!!!!
There is nothing new under the sun.
A change will come because I will be the change that I want to SEE.
I will use my pen to WRITE FOR CHANGE.
May the lives lost not be in VAIN.
There are many things uncertain but there is one thing I know for sure.
There is nothing new under the sun.
Photo by Zoe Fernandez on Unsplash