Yes, I’m black
Look at my back
There you will see
The scars of slavery

Yes, I’m black
under attack
Police officers screaming
For me to step back

Yes, I’m black
Disgusted stares
death glares
As I walk down the street

Yes, I’m black
Hide your children from me
Run, run, run
From the beast that you see

Yes, I’m black
Headlights
Dark nights
Forced to fight

Yes, I’m black
Government hates me
Because I take a knee
For what I believe

Yes, I’m black
You can see me on CNN
Being handcuffed
And shoved into the back of a van

Yes, I’m black
What they once hated
The dark skin, curly hair
Our individuality now tainted

Yes, I’m black
Scared for our daughters
Too young to understand
why we’re being slaughtered

Yes, I’m black
Still wearing these chains
Slavery never ended
They just changed the name

Land of the free, home of the brave
You lie and say we’ve come along way
If you ask Ferguson, tears running down his face
Racism still lives, but tomorrow’s another day

I fall apart everyday
wish you could feel
what I felt
but I know you too well

If "I love you" was a promise
you couldn’t keep it
just be honest
I’ve heard it before
you don’t love me anymore

Hands getting cold
your love for me has gotten old
tell me
was I made from a broken mold?

Your words, I still hear
your lips, I still feel
against my ear
only you’ve disappeared

If "I love you" was a promise
you couldn’t keep it
just be honest
I’ve heard it before
you don’t love me anymore

They really want us silenced
The sound of our screams to go unheard

They really want us jobless
Our children going hungry

They really want us dead
Our blood painting the ground below their feet

They really want girls like me
To be envious of their blonde-haired daughters

They really want our brothers
In chains, behind bars

They really want us silenced
But I will scream.
I will demand to be heard.

Love
What is love?

Is it the way
A mother kisses
Her child?

Is it the way
A father plays
Ball with his son?

Is it the way
A man makes
Love to his wife?

Is it the way
two teenagers
Hold hands as they
Walk down the hall?

Or

Is it they way
Parents cry when
Their son says “I’m gay”?

Is it the way
Friends turn away
When they hear
I want to be a guy someday”?

Is it the way
Teens **** themselves
At the thought of being alone?

Is it the way
Kids wait by the phone
For their Dad to say
He’s on his way home?

Maybe

Love can’t be defined
Love, is deep within all of us
Sometimes, it can just be hard to find

I still smile
when I think of
lying beside you
Sheets
wrapped around our feet
My hair
a mess
your hand
up my shirt
Your lips
against mine

I still cry
When I think of
what came after
climbing
out of your bed
in the wee hours
of the morning

I still laugh
when I think
about you chasing me
around the house
no socks on our feet
no worries to be had

I still get angry
when I think
about her
texting you
and you
pretending
you didn't know her

I still
feel for you
all the things I
felt back then

Do you
feel them
for me
too?