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Sparks fly, and people die;
A cycle that tends to repeat
Endlessly.

Bullets fly, across the sky;
People mourn and cry for love lost;
Grieving for their future days
That would never come,
That has paid the cost.

The cost of what may you ask?
The cost of being black.

Sparks are shot into the sky;
Blood is shot into the sky;
Sweat is shot into the sky,
Tears are shot into the sky,

For being of color,
An eye for an eye?

No? / Then I wonder why?

Why nothing is done until
A fatal outcome?
Why peaceful protests urge uproar,
While unarmed men lay pinned
In the street...
Beneath someone’s knee,
Unable to breathe?

Tell me.
Tell me what the answer is,
To stop the violence,
But most importantly,
To feel safe in my skin
With my melanin.

I love humanity, but this is a message
That needs to be known;
In hopes for all to be seen equally;
Not to feel estranged,
Or be a victim of prejudice,
Or alone.
Black lives matter. I wrote this when the protests and riots in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the world started. This poem is only the start of what I have to say and is certainly not the end. This is the first iteration of this piece, and I will not be responding to any hateful messages on this. It's all about love. It's all about understanding. That said, let us spread love. Let us understand in finality that hate doesn't solve a thing. This is only a fraction of the pain it causes, especially for those of color, which I understand firsthand. I will continue to hope for peace, and for an everlasting love that will bring forth the mutual and equal freedom for all that we have yet to reach. Keeping that hope alive.
SammyJoe Jun 2020
By the time you let go
It was too late
What was it with you
That consumed so much hate?

How you knelt down
On his neck for so long
Did nothing in you
Scream, Wait this is wrong?

How bout the words
"I can't breathe"
The humanity
To give A MAN some relief

To see life drain
From pleading eyes
There has got to
Be some evil inside

A grown man
Calling out for his mother
How you had
No love or care for this brother

Black, white or brown
Let's love one another
One thing is for sure
We all bleed the same colour

I guarantee now
You'll never forget
What you thought was nothing
Is histories biggest upset

The BLM movement
Worldwide protestings
Black & white marching
From your act resulting

In that moment in time
You hadn't a clue
Just what the results
Of your actions would do

If you'd known in that time
The after taste from your cup
Would be so bitter
You would have got up!

Police brutality, racism
And the latter
All I can say is
Black lives really do matter

The hurt the pain
The families destroyed
Guess now you'll always remember
The name George Floyd.
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.
Michael Jun 2020
At hand, we die to the white man.
Call it like it is.
See it from my eye.
“I don’t see color”
You don’t see color!!!
What madness do you speak?
The fact that you don’t see color
Means you don’t see me!
Because I am a person of color,
(I AM A BLACK MAN!)
You’ve gotta see my color to see me.

You would rather make sure your dog eats
While my dawg got's to hustle and tussle for bone and scrap.
You would rather help stray dog
Than help a dawg gone astray.
A black life is a human life.

At hand, we die to our own.
Call it like I see it.
A lot of my brothers and sisters
See me from a dove’s eye view,
Killed by my own hands.
Brothers and sisters
Yet we **** each other like
Slave and oppressor.

The oppressor has become,
Me, who undermines my brother because
He don’t got the qualifications like the Caucasian.
Me who undermines my sister so much so
She now finds love in selling her love.
Help a n** out!!!

Land of the free,
For the skin that’s never been slaved.
Bring back the land
That was rightfully mine.
Do manners only apply when I'm wrong?
Gimme my land, freedom, rights and dreams
And ill give you your car back?
As a father I did what I had to for my kids.

Africa, your mother, cries
Day in and day out.
Her own children die
Not only at the hands of the free, but also at the hands of her children.
Sacrificed, a lot, to keep her children fed,
She’s been a mother to the world,
Its time we, her children, look after our mother and
Each other.
You can't be neutral to the situation at hand. It's not a situation. They just found a more subtle way of going about it.
Commuter Poet Jun 2020
This is not
White vs Black
This is everyone vs Racism
Racism is not just a problem in America
Black Lives Matter!
Say their names
Justice for
Belly Mujinga; George Floyd; Tony McDade; Eric Gardner; Trevor Smith; Breonna Taylor; Sean Fitzgerald; Mark Duggan; Trayvon Martin; Chinedu Okabi; Ahmaud Arbery; Sarah Reed; Michael Brown; Aiyana Jones; Tamir Rice; Jordan Davies; Sean Rigg; Alton Sterling; Phlando Castile; David Dungay; Jamel Floyd; Christopher Alder; David McAtee; Julian Cole; Sheku Bayoh
No Justice, no peace
No freedom until we are equal
White silence is Violence
End Police Brutality
Stomp out racism
Stop killing my people
‘Please…please…please – I can’t breathe…’

I hear you
I see you
I stand with you
A dignified and respectful protest in Southend on sea Essex
These words were displayed on handwritten signs by our community
Ashley Moor Jun 2020
The town I’m from
has a history
an excommunication
of diversity
at the helm
of self-serving
Caucasian propriety.
My sister is 50 percent
black -
her ancestors once
ran towards the freedom
promised
in the small towns
like this one.
This small town -
97.4 percent white -
instead hung her ancestors
in the town square,
jeered at their attempts
to live among the same people
who were proud
to live in a land of freedom.
Only certain freedoms
are allowed, however,
in towns like this one -
only a freedom
of a certain color.
Arab Traders excavated
Europe poured the foundation
The New World perfectly framed it
Rest of the races, the finishing touches

This …
Inordinate economic concupiscence
Animated by a violent passion
An extraordinary alteration

And…
Nature convulses
Human dignity reduced to
Color: Black, white, brown, yellow

So ...
The gales storm in
Tearing through, uprooting
Sham of a foundation

Then …
The scale corrects itself
The clock resets
The scheme falls apart

Because …
There is only one humanity
It’s you.
It’s me.
This poem is in response to George Floyd's death and Injustice suffered by people of African descent
Justyn Huang Jun 2020
A happy person makes a terrible activist
Due to recent events
Kora Sani Jun 2020
-they- come in waves
dark shadows
among the daylight

haven't they been
drenched in the darkness for long enough?

armed with egos and weapons
first -they- stand in front of you
then -they- plow through you

a moronic display
of the truth that they’re screaming
Ryan Woodcock Jun 2020
Could we live in a world with no fear,
Learn, heal and shed no tear.
To live with you, to live with thee,
To respect, and uphold, racial equality.

Your heart is open, your eyes are closed,
I see your pain, I see the untold.
You feel afraid, you stand all alone
You search for hope, but no one is home.

You open your mouth, you whisper no more,
You are only human, you kneel to the floor.
You raise your hands to the sky,
searching for hope from above, asking god why.

Why do we suffer, why is there pain,
Why do they not see, we are all the same.
Why do they chant, why do they fight,
Why does my heartache, every, single, night.
Why does it matter, of ones race,
Aren’t we not all visitors within earths holy place.
You whisper to thee, to anyone who can hear,
You plead to be seen, you plead with a tear.

Your heart is open, your eyes are closed,
I see your pain, I listen of what you told.
I see your rawness, I walk with pace,
I look down to you, I kneel face to face.

I reach out to you, our fingers connect,
I whisper aloud, I’m here to protect.
I open my heart, I close my eyes,
I feel your pain, I hear your cries.

I open my mouth, I whisper I am here,
You hear my voice, you shed one more tear.
The tear of joy, the tear of love,
The tear of equality, the tear from above.

You open your eyes, and I open mine,
We share this moment, our hearts intertwine.
The true meaning of life, together we now feel,
Love one another, grow, learn and heal.

We can live in a world of no fear,
We can learn, heal and shed no tear.
To live with you, to live with thee,
To respect, uphold racial equality.
Black lives matter, I hear your endeavour,
I stand side by side, today, tomorrow and forever. 💓
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