I don’t believe in color and in the fact that the color of one’s skin defines their identity.
I believe in upbringing and education.
I believe in the fact that people are affected by where they grow up and their family.
Being black doesn’t make me behave in a certain way.
Being black just protects my skin and cells a bit better from UV light.
I never noticed anybody becoming someone else because they became tan.
People wouldn’t assume that somebody with brown eyes would act or think differently solely based on that fact.
What I mean is that people should never stop at the color of one’s skin but rather try to dig a bit more and understand the person,
How they think, what they’re made of.
Some people say that being color blind is not enough, that we need to see color in order to make things right.
I don’t believe so and I can explain.
Not seeing color doesn’t mean being oblivious to people’s problems,
Not seeing color means that the color of one person doesn’t matter,
That it’s not what gives them or cost them value,
That their problems should be tackled with the same strength and endurance, regardless of what they look like,
That the only thing that should matter is the situation that person is in.
Correlations can be found between a lot of different parameters.
Showing a correlation is different from showing a cause-effect link.
We should always try to understand the root of a problem
In order to treat the cause of a disease rather than only the symptoms,
Because treating symptoms will never help us get rid of the illness,
Only make it less painful to live with.
I can be black and like hip hop because I like the rhythm.
I can be black and like hip hop because some lyrics resonate with my experience.
I can be black and like hip hop because I like looking at the girls in the video clips.
In which sentence could I have not substituted black by white, brown, or Asian?
Money can have color but poverty doesn’t.
Countries have colors but values don’t.
People have colors but their identity doesn’t.
I am black, a scientist, curious about the world.
I was born in France, but my parents come from Haiti.
I speak French and English but can only understand creole.
I love Haitian dishes but everything else is far from being dull.
I live in a strange country with a society structure that I like.
There’s no big motto like Freedom, equality and fraternity
But there is “jantelagen”.
I am no better than anyone else.
There is no reason why my voice should be listened to over another.
I am just sharing my opinion on a matter
That is crucial and that I have thought of.
If you want to know me, don’t just look at me, and think you have it all figured out,
Let’s just have a drink, let’s go out!
This is only my point of view. I am not asserting that I hold the truth but this obviously reflects my truth. As I wrote in the poem opinion, I am open to divergent views on the matter. As John Stuart Mill said in "On liberty", "he who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that". I want to sharpen my opinion. Let's discuss!
