We are the youth
Full of "fcked up kids"
Up to "no good"
Trying to "fck with you"

We are the youth
That wants something new
"Live in this world
But have no clue?"

You try not to see
What we could be
If you would stop making us bleed

We fight for our lives
'Cause we're nothing to you

Just walk in my shoes
And see what you do

I'd rather be part of this youth
Than stuck in a loop
Of narcissistic views

"No one is safe with these kids on the loose
Trying to take the world from you"

Listen to us now
We are the youth
We are the youth
that won't be subdued

We fight for our lives
'Cause we're nothing to you

fourth of july
never pay attention
to the outcry
turn a blind eye
to melancholy and suffering
why we can't understand
our empathy is slumbering
passive days are numbering
say their names
say their names
america will never be the same
red white and blue
up in flames

i find it incredible
that you can look me dead in the eye
ignoring my dead comrade
and talk about the justice in this country
when the judge, jury, and executioner of the blacks
sits in the executive branch, alone
brandishing their badge
retrofitted to read "officer"
rather than "slave catcher"
and truth is framed as false
against their flimsy fabrications of innocence
that amazes me

i find it incredible
that you can be surprised by those boys in blue
beating our black skin blacker 'n' blue
'till red runs down our cheeks like tears from our eyes
so used to witnessing this onslaught of slaughter
that we can't cry tears half the time
that amazes me

i find it incredible
that you can honestly ask me
"how could this happen?"
as i fail to find footing
on this razor thin line
between being blinded by tears
trembling with grief, anger, and fear
and being so numb i can't speak
feeling like a monster for a lack of reaction
to the atrocities i have to witness
i've found a happy-less medium
and must be content to remain numb with rage
that amazes me

i find it incredible
that you can graciously remind me not to forget white and blue
while i scream into the void that i matter, too
unless, of course, i happen to be brandishing a hairbrush
or somehow disrupt your white life
then you quickly affix an asterisk to the word "all"
that amazes me

i find it incredible
that you can proudly proclaim your allyship
and in the same breath explain how
that black was a criminal
but i'm one of the "good ones"
because i'm not ghetto
and conditioned code switches into my DNA
so i'm not a threat unless i ask you to reel it in
and just possibly stop saying "******"
it triggers panic and makes me sick
when it falls from your pale lips
yet i stomach it and swallow my anxiety
sitting with a twisting gut in your presence
that amazes me

i find it incredible
that you seem to have this superpower
pulling you from awareness into blissful oblivion
that i can only imagine
because your life's not on the line
that amazes me

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐦𝐞?
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞?
𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐈 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐫𝐨𝐛 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐎𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡?
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝑰'𝒎 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡?

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠,
𝐈𝐧 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐰𝐬, 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐢𝐧 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔.
𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞
𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝒎𝒚 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞

𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝,
𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥. 𝐍𝐨𝐭. 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩. 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐝.
𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐭, 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐞,
𝐁𝐮𝐭, 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐠𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞,

𝐀 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬,
𝐀 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐬.
𝐀𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞,
‘𝐂𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄.

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬,
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬?

𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫,
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐞:
𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊. 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐒. 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑.

A woman was shot
in her own home.
A man could not breathe
and then he gave his last breath.

Do their lives mean nothing
due to their skin?
Or because the color blue
is the reason they're dead?

the snow lays thick

atop the dirt

frozen wastelands

ruined earth

The melanin in our skin,
leaves open a gateway for hate.
It is where violence and bigotry breed
at the hands of those meant to protect.
Was our skin color God’s mistake?

What is fed to us as seeds,
grows into fires filled with rage as we mature.
The cycle is inevitable, at best,  
foreshadowing the entirety of our lives.
Placing those sprouted through hate into an inescapable prison,
filled with fires which cannot be extinguished.
Warranting these fires to burn within us, was God’s only mistake.
We will not be put out.
I.M