The classic “Wow I'm almost as dark as you” but God forbid you walk in my shoes, mothers and fathers stare making me feel pressured to even exist. No you will never know what it means to be as dark while raised on the fact that “My Black is Beautiful.”
The classic “well it's just a word” a word that held my ancestors in captivity making them give up hope as though they were a piece missing from the puzzle
The “oh my gosh how did you grow your hair overnight?” fingers intertwined in my crown of natural beauty representing my identity of a proud black woman.
We can’t breathe! We can’t breathe as this country cuts off our air for survival
That thing you call equality is a mask to hide the white privilege that mocks my existence
You tell us we have the right to use our voice but silence our screams for equality
That flag in blue and red is the blood of my brothers and sisters spilled by the blue that uses our bodies as shooting practice
This is the land of the free and home of the brave but I am far from free with the shackles of my identity weighed down
Buildings set ablaze by the crackling cries of justice that we have yet to receive
Another black man shot for taking a jog
Another black woman shot for sleeping
in her home
Another black child shot for playing while black
Another black ”suspect” shot for “resisting arrest”
Another mother without their child to kiss
Another father without hearing the laughter of his daughter
Another son growing up with the classic “your father left” yea left to be with the Lord
Another daughter without cuddles and a bedtime story
Another black soul unable to rest as their case is thrown out with the rest
Black Lives Matter Too because when my life was handed down to me I knew I didn't have too much time to live
Black Lives Matter Too not to downplay any other life but to recognize that my life is important when I kick and scream to just be accepted for who I am
Black Lives Matter Too as racism is disease without a vaccine
Black Lives Matter Too as it is filled with the dreams of black children who aspire to see their dreams till the end not their end
So when you say ”All Lives Matter” I’ll say “ Black Lives Matter Too”