Do you realize?
that if you still partake in the system
that your ancestors from long ago
tried to dismantle
and your descendants will grapple
to survive
until they expire—
that you are not really free
but instead
just dancing in a cage
with different music.

The old music was:
“separate but equal,”
“work hard and pray,”
“be grateful to be allowed in the room.”

The new music is:
“grind harder,”
“go viral,”
“representation is enough,”
“you got followers — you made it.”

The four wall are not that different.
They changed the soundtrack, not the system.