dear young black girls,
i'm sorry that you cannot turn on the TV and see black female role models.
i'm so sorry that you are constantly being shamed for your natural features.
sorry that you're constantly under the pressure to comply with eurocentric beauty standards.
your skin color is a blessing.
your hair is beautiful.
do not change anything about yourself for the sake of the way society views you.
dear young black boys,
i'm sorry that your constantly seen as a threat to those around you.
i'm so sorry that you cannot gather in in a group with all of your peers without the fear that you're going to be accused of doing wrong.
sorry that society will someday see you as a "deadbeat dad" and someone who won't be able to provide for himself, much less his family.
your skin color is beautiful.
ignore everyone, keep up the good work, you will be successful.
you bleed the same color as every other human being on this planet and i am so sorry that has not yet been recognized after how many years?
irrelevant.
you are loved, you are wonderful, you are talented, you are unique.
follow your dreams.
be ambitious.
fight for your beliefs.
stand your ground.
justice will be served.
change will come.

And all your heros are gone,
but you refuse to take off the mask.

A loudmouth, a capitalist,
with greasy hair and a golden toothpick,
he is your enemy
he is your oppressor and
he sits upon a throne of coal and blood
with armed security
and a nation built for him,
to protect him and his money,
a police state, pat downs on the corner,
murdered in the street,
your daughters gotta eat.

He grows fatter and fatter still,
he loves complacency,
he loves contentment,
he invests heavily in both.

He knows we are strong,
he knows we are many,
he knows he must divide us to win,
he knows we're his greatest weapon,
so he created Fox News,
he created TMZ,
stealthily,
we didn't even notice,
he created NPR and KVIE,
he gave them masks that look like ours.
They look poor,
they look starved,
they look like us, but they have a different master.

Our master is the earth,
our master is our coworker, our neighbor, our mailman,
our dishwashers, our bus drivers, our minimart clerks.

Our masters are not the TV,
our masters are not the radio,
our masters are not the New York Times,
they are not National Geographic,
they are not BP,
they are not our principals, our administrators,
our policemen, our CEOs, our investors, our bankers,
our insurance providers,
these people hate us,
they hate us because they can't squeeze blood from a stone,
and
the rivers are running dry,
the factories are standing still,
the people, our masters and our friends,
they're in the streets,
they're shouting "BLACK LIVES MATTER"
they're shouting "NO JUSTICE NO PEACE"
"NO MORE WAR FOR OIL"
"**** THE POLICE"
"DOWN WITH THE 1%"

and soon
and soon,
The False Gods will grow so fat
and we'll have nothing left to eat but them,
and on that day we'll sit down to dine
and it won't be civilized and it won't be pretty,
their blood, our blood, will feed the rivers and their flesh will feed our hungry children and their money will burn and warm our chilled bones but we can't wait,
we can't wait for this to happen because everyday they grow stronger,
we grow weaker and the river becomes dryer.

The Bourgeois is our enemy,
they say 'All Lives Matter'
they say 'Work Hard and Your Dreams Will Come True'

BUT THEY LIE

Here is my narrative and it is not about forgiving murders... it is related to the underlying problem.

Sometimes, you can't love your neighbor because it's a very high standard that has been asked of us. For some reason it is so much easier to hate them; to wish that they get what they deserve. But outside love and forgiveness there is another place; acceptance. And to accept someone is not only that they are who they are but that it may be that you will always have an uneasy or superficial relationship with them because your differences are so pronounced. But that is ok. It is ok if you do not hurt them in any way. It is ok if you help them if they need your help. It is ok if you treat them as you might a stranger when holding the door for them as they enter a building. With decency and civility. But escalating the tension is never the answer.

Forgiving someone who hurt you or your family can almost be as much a miracle as walking on water. It is holy forgiveness. And to love your enemy is even more of a miracle because not only are you walking on water, you are possibly raising the dead. And these laws of physics that we all accept to be true are as sure a fact as our belief that we cannot love our enemy or even forgive them. But should we give up on the idea? Is the only alternative to our inability to love our enemy is to **** them?

NO

NEVER

EVER

The only way to love someone is to prioritize the feeling. The only way to forgive them is to understand that forgiveness can mean withdrawing from the battlefield. To soften your opinion of them means that you have decided to understand their point of view. And to understand their point of view is to be honest with yourself. How would you feel? And to love them is to see their entire being and know that the stress in their life may be so much greater than your own, that they are only human and if not for the grace of God there you will go.

Forgiveness like a diet is a process and though things may not ever be as they were they will be better than they are now. If only you will begin. Identify what must be done. See the goal. Take small steps; I don't want to injure someone. More steps; I will withdraw from engagement. More steps; I will establish what is important and why. More steps; I will do what is humanly possible. More steps; I will accept what I must and regain my moral compass. More steps; I will live my life and though I will remember, I will try to smile again; I will not hurt them; I will not take my revenge.

Whatever the problem may be we must dedicate ourselves to the proposition that we owe a dying man the decency of investigating the manner of his death; and if it is his fault then we must accept that truth; and if it wasn't then we must act on that truth without regard to who is at fault. There is no person who is more important than the right to life given to our fellow man.


"Father, father
We don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today, oh oh oh"

Marvin Gaye

"If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.

Nelson Mandela

"People respond in accordance to how you relate to them. If you approach them on the basis of violence, that's how they'll react. But if you say, 'We want peace, we want stability,' we can then do a lot of things that will contribute towards the progress of our society."

Nelson Mandela

"Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend."

Martin Luther King Jr.

"Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

Martin Luther King Jr.

it is grief and rage all at once.

and there are never any words for this—
simply a scream,
a howl,
an outrage.

in this I have never felt more helpless:
my apology will never be enough,
but staying quiet will mean silence,
and silence means consent,
and no—
I do not consent to any more of this injustice,
this farce,
this outright lie.

there have been enough stolen lives.

my love,
my black brothers and sisters for which there are no words:
I am so sorry.
you will always have me in solidarity.

I feel as if I can do so little,
but lead the way.

send me your voices, send me your battle cry:
and I will do my best to be your megaphone, your ally,
if need ever be.

and my love,
these children,
good men and women who have been lost to this earth,
who this earth does not deserve:
I am so sorry—
but you deserve far more than my grief.

may you find justice. may you find home.
may you find rest; may you rest in power.

July 4th is a Holiday filled with celebration,
Complete with BBQs and Fireworks
And exclamations of "Happy Independence day"
But people seem to fail to add the asterisk at the end
The hidden meaning, the fine print, the text between the lines if you will.
Because July 4th is not everyones's independence day.
July 4th only signifies the independence of a particular group of people
A group of people who fought for their freedom, but didn't allow it in their own back yards.
When these people were out celebrating their independence, my ancestors, my family, where in fields, working, in houses trying to stay alive
My women trying to stay away from their masters ****** them-
Whoops, sorry, I meant "Celebrating."
So what reason do I have to call July 4th my independence day?
If anything, my independence day is December 16th, the ratification of the 13th amendment
Or Juneteenth
Or January 1st, the day that the emancipation proclamation was ratified.
So while everyone else is celebrating the New Year, I think about what else that day has brought
Brought about the freedom of a people, my people.
Made them citizens, made them real, made them free.
Well, kinda free.
We've come so far.
And of course, I am not trying to blame white people today for what happened in the past, they should not be held accountable for the actions of the people from whom they've descended
But instead I want my black brothers and sisters to think, to remember, where we are coming from.
So yes, I hope everyone has a happy independence day*
Just keep in mind that it's not mine.

I don't talk much cuz,
Nobody hears me,
When nobody hears me,
They don't see me,
Ignored like a dead floating fish,
Nobody can save me,
Fine then I abruptly say to thyself,
***** every soul that I consider alive,
Away to anyone who blows a smile at me,
Excuse my behavior all of sudden...,
No!,
Excuse your behavior that I tolerated since my existence began,
Leave me be I need no help from trouble that caused effect,
Everyone be happy in your place of hell that you danced your way to,
I have no more hands to throw out,
I have no sympathy to deliver,
I lost love when I threw my heart away,
Along with burning my emotions into the atmosphere,
I walked away quietly rebalancing thyself somewhere near this beautiful island,
I will call home,
More than just sand,
More than waving waters at my feet,
Sweeter than cut coconuts juice with a pretty straw,
Calmer than the trees breezed in a restful evening,
Prettier than the morning sunrise til the heavenly sunset,
More rhythmic than dem girls hips sway to a reggae beat,
More deeper than a poetic revolutionary black brotha,
I know what I am,
What I like,
What fits me physically and emotionally,
What makes me smile even through the bad,
Who I love to the endless of time,
What's ok to accept and keep it moving,
I say less now because it's just cheap,
I rather work to earn what's owed to me,
Graciously and humbling to my soul,
I only live for me now,
For my own universe.