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A M Ryder May 2021
The world
had to stop
For this victory
I'm joyus
I'm angry
I'm still angry
I want to bring black life
Into this world without
Us having to
Do this ****
I want us
To grow old,
Be unscathed,
Be unbothered,
And flourish
Words of a BLM activist
Ken Pepiton Apr 2021
Seeing my self, the lost self, the bet maker,
he who bets his role is hero,
seeing a reality no one else imagines.

Poets do some gnosticshit and call it art.

To live professionally,
y'gotta know the lingo.

Some suggestions from the sponsors, still jingle.
DO NOT MENTION POLICE

Imagine you know a guy, big dude,
an ox in stature and temper
a bull in brute potential… like
Plato, who found no fault in Socratic ignorance.

yeah, he does look like George Floyd,
but also, a little, like
Derek Chauvin,
- kachunk, like a Zenith Space Command
- pluck click ultrasonic change of flow, levee-gate

Derek Chauvin, must be
disappointed… I mean
it would **** to really be him,
worse than really being you, if you could see his
inner view of what may be,
and what may never be,
and the rage is with him, laughing in him, at him

that has got to be similar to hell,
if you imagine,
it never changes back.

This is now,
and you, as he, are
a real person in 2021, now historical
redefiner of the term
chauvinism
as used by Billy Jean King, refined down to the muonic
bit
tied to the actual trigger
event in the
idea in a name that takes a meaning in time
from a meaning in another time,

male chauvinist, sexist ****, prepost-er-ous error
of the very best intentions, twisted in time
through pursuit of happiness, undefined,

as is my right, should I ever be given a clue,
hap
happen
happiness the state of being, let's say.

Where nothing is missing, there is no nowhere
there is nothing.
This is all there is.
That is how a living word exists, ready to be
read.
When the better angel tells you. Take it easy.

Read. {refuse the roll of cheerleader,
or prophet when offered}

Stupid you, you say, read what?
-ah, the angel brighten's up, everything, it says
in writing on the tables of your heart
on pages requiring
rolling or folding to be put away.

Entire world views, Weltanschauung, worlds shown
and world's seen, may be
folded in this method-knowing… first

measure.
length to width. there to there, here to here,
edge to edge to edge to edge to edge we see a gem

-a gated elysian matrix, -- odd allusion -- matrix

cross my legs and meditate,
should I say, or should I wait, say it, matrices being

The logical sense of
"array of possible combinations of truth-values" is attested by 1914.
This is part of the piece, not a footnote,
a piece {I gotta style now, I am a professed artist}

matrix (n.)
from māter (genitive mātris) "mother" (see mother (n.1)).
The many figurative and technical senses
are from the notion
of "that which encloses or gives origin to" something.
The general sense of
"place or medium where something is developed" is recorded by 1550s;
meaning "mould in which something is cast or shaped" is by 1620s;
sense of "embedding or enclosing mass" is by 1640s.
The mathematical sense of
"a rectangular array of quantities (usually square)"
is because it is considered as a set of components into which quantities can be set.
The logical sense
of "array of possible combinations of truth-values"
is attested by 1914. As a verb, in television broadcasting, from 1951.

From <https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=matrix>

Attestation, affirmation -- proof of sanity,  artist inclined auto-ism,

it goes both ways, as the reader,
you may be crazy… if you know what I mean, and I disagree.

These frameless pages are proofs of thinking,
as a mortal thinketh,
in process of bringing answers
to questions some asked the AIMM,
which we all serve…
as sense makers… words suggest senses felt,
you feel me, means, you gitit,
you know,
if you know you been guiled, beguiled,
AIMM let you know.

the augmented intrestation manifestation module…
AIMM
constant scan set, set
as a finishing nail is set. If you had a hammer,
here, your methodology
is not applicable, see,
reason
morphs through a sieve, a fine mesh of all men ever claimed to know,
in writing after the alpha bet,
squeeze, like a tater ricer,
whatchewsee

first bet, at first, ohgnoshit it is going to self-destruct---

wisdom, from some unseen source,
arises to form that very thought, the fear
of the creator,
you know the feeling,
wisdom, whispers, not that way,
this way
you are the feeling
being, I imagine, dear
reader, line upon line,
through the matrix of the folding pages forcing sense
of something
where sense of nothing going nowhere was,
wind in the pines,
yes.
a test station. HP is a test station in the AIMM, maybe. Someday, a grand child may ask you what THE MATRIX means... don't lie, it is more than the Wachowskis could convey alone.
If those young men had looked like me,
how diff'rent everything would be.
There'd be no blood or teardrops shed.
Had they been white, they'd not be dead.

If Mike Brown had been Michael White,
he surely would have been alright.
"Don't shoot!" would not need to be said.
Had he been white, he'd not be dead.

From Ferguson to East L.A.,
we hear the stories every day.
"Protect and Serve" til streets run red.
Had they been white, they'd not be dead.

Call it racial immunity,
where skin-tone is impunity.
Don't let yourself be so misled-
had they been white, they'd not be dead.

As more and more young ones are slain,
and protests are met with disdain,
you may debate what I have said,
but were they white, they'd not be dead.
Wrote this when Mike Brown was killed in Ferguson. I'm sad that it maintains relevance today.
Anais Vionet Jun 2020
****** with callous authority
****** with casual face
behold guilt and indifference
behold helpless public pleading
cries to mothers past and mothers now
behold public death - oh, watching eyes

behold the citizens’ fear to interpose
behold the helpless sheep, oh lion!
where came such fear?
behold the face of arrogance
behold the face of tyranny
are you safe in your coop, chicken?
where came such power?

Share the barking dogs’ epiphany
wake the half-asleep and world-weary
clutch the scoundrels
Let the pain of others be warning
And the alarm of villains ring like music
a free verse protest poem about the ****** of Mr. Floyd, on TV
Corynne Dittrich Jun 2020
I've heard about the hate between black and white,
Can't anybody see? This is so not right.
The problems start but never end.
Can't they see? We can just be friends.
The world is full of chaos,
And I'm thinking to myself
"Look at us!"
Pain was here
But it just grew.
I'm sorry, was that not enough for you?
You chant "All Lives Matter" in the streets.
Who were the ones who used to dress up in sheets?
Yes we know ALL lives matter.
Yours, mines. His. Hers. Theirs.
But when I walk down the street
No one stares.
This issue is a cancer. We must cut it out.
Eradicate the disease,
Until there's no more shouts.
Calling all the cops who deserve this time.
If you didn't see it coming,
Don't do the crime.
You've scarred each family
From the people we've lost.
You did this crime,
Now you pay the cost.
Cuz...
When someone says get off my neck
With your knee,
Cop look at yourself.
Is this really who you wanna be?
What's the difference between black and white?
What really matters is if you're doing something right.
Just imagine what you're putting someone through,
When you're disabling them,
Labeling them,
Believing something that has never been true.
But know it's up to you.
You can change this from being so blue.
Because imagine if it happened to you.

By Corynne Dittrich, age 15
The Calm Jun 2020
Please write back to me and tell me how to protest,
Because I'm terrified of running into a bad cop, or privileged white people thinking they can make a citizens arrests

Please give me something else to do since you don't want me to take a knee,
To silently protest while you sing an anthem that represents you but doesn't represent me

Please teach me how protest ,
So you don't have to reproach me for my lack of decorum,
Give me something that will change the outcome
Cause people are dying and it seems you don't care , how come ?

We defend the indefensible crimes of those paid to protect us, and expect us to sit idly by as they **** us,
Turn on the news and watch
Watch them defend the good ole' boys in blue as they go through our history and berate us

Dear white people,
Why can I not yell and scream ?
To make up for the air taken from George Floyd's lungs as he whimpered I can't breathe

Breathe, an unequivocal human right
A knee to the neck, crushing the passage way,
from his eyes was gone the light
The sight, myself a black man that will raise black sons how can I not stare in fright?

Fright , fear in my heart from the sight
The new Jim Crow or the old one?
No ropes but we are still lynched
No dogs chasing us but still the same plight

Dear white white church,
You're probably the biggest problem of all.
All the political capital and still you don't answer our call.
So focused on abortion rights but don't seem to care about black babies when they get a little tall

Jesus was a man of color unjustfully killed
Jesus was a man of color unjustfully killed

Every black man and woman killed an image of Christ but it seems you've willed
Yourself into believing that God doesn't see
Your silence, you've been billed!
And no penance can pay the cost you owe
In the pockets of politicians
You've gone so low
Picking a party over people
You thought we wouldn't know ?
Its no surprise that Donald Trump would go to a church posing with a Bible
Appeasing you so
You fill his pockets with dollars so that the calamity never ends

Dear white allies
We appreciate you answering the call
The problem doesn't directly affect you but still you stand and stand tall
You are our professors, elders, neighbors , church members you give your energy , your passion, your privilege and you use it all

Dear white allies,
We're happy to call you friends
The work is far from done
Its never fun but friendships like this never end.
thoughts from a rough couple of weeks
JAM Jun 2020
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4UqMyldS7Q&list=PLbM5LMVZad0YmCXr99fAtAHetTUX2BWj8&index=2&t=0s
Gabriel Girault Jun 2020
Since I was Born, I was sick.
The World had tried to choke out my Light since before I had Life. Since before I could fully think, it never wanted me around.
So much loss and pain just for one child, so today I must use the Life I gained to throw everything I have back at The World.
I refuse to let my Life be choked out by A World that never wanted to see me Rise. I shall Stand and Fight to make The World better.
Ever since I was a little Black Boy I have watched myself die.
It started with Trayvon, my big brother who died trying to Live Life and buy a snack. I died again with Tamir Rice, my little brother died for being Youthful and for being a child. And I kept dying and watching brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, fathers, and mothers of mine all die. I was forced to watch my Family die. I have seen myself die in all of these people over and over again. Whether we Lived in the same era or not. I saw myself assassinated and silenced by the people who were supposed to help me bring Change over and over again. I saw myself beaten for sitting down in the wrong place, I saw myself marching to make a difference. I have seen myself choked out, shot in the streets, lynched, and more.
I see my face on all of these men who have died for no reason, I always believe I’m next. Ever since I was a young boy.
Even now as an “adult” I never know how much time I have left. There are days when I have fun and Live every single piece of Life and think, “Today could be my last day of Life”. There are other days where it’s not as great and I think the same thing.
My father turns 50 soon and knowing what I know about Black men, I am scared. I turn 20 soon and knowing what I know about Black men, I am beyond horrified.
On some days I can’t handle knowing all of this and on other days I know if I don’t handle this there won’t be enough people to step up who want to drastically change This World that has been choking me out.
I just wish that my Black Life Mattered so I could Live each day without fear.
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