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Lshassan Aug 2017
Oh, say can you see
That racism is a big problem in our society.
A Colored citizens reality,is police brutality.
In this “land of the free”,
We are free to be attacked and harassed
We are free to starve and die
We are free to speak,
But we all know that's a lie.
If we try to make a change,
We will presumably die.
Say, if Martin Luther king didn't strive
Wouldn't he be alive?
Aaron LaLux Jun 2017
Once Upon A Time

The truth is,
I saw you for real,

not just your eyes,
though they were the window,
not just your mouth, though it was the door,

the truth is,
I saw you,

in a flash of light,
in a fleeting moment of intangible time,
somewhere between uncontrollable chaos,
and unconscious calm,

I saw you,

and in that fleeting moment,
I saw we all want to feel,
both comfortably numb,
as well as every possible awkward emotion,

imagine all the people living in harmony,

see there’s a little Lennon in all of us,
just not enough...

We all want to feel,
both comfortably numb and every possible awkward emotion,

who killed John Lennon,
who killed JFK,

they want to assassinate our characters indiscriminately,
anyone could be informant don't know who to trust these days,
is that why what little emotion you still hold,
you try and hide away?

Well,
you can’t hide from me,
you see,
I see you,

you see I see you,
and your unconscious charade,
but your charade can’t fool me,
just like John Legend can’t replace,
John Lennon or The Weeknd can’t replace,
Michael Jackson or how Donald J can’t replace JFK,

or how MLK can’t be replaced be anybody,

because nobody’s even trying to stand for anything anymore,
unless they’re standing drink in their hand on the dance floor,

who killed MLK,
who killed Michael Jackson,
who killed Prince and why haven’t we felt a thing ever since,
it seems we lost ourselves but we don't know how it happened,

and I just want to feel again,
and I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen,
and I know the deal,
the real truth and the real you so please stop acting,

the truth is,
I see you,

so don’t act like you don’t care,
because we both know I know that you do,
and please pinch me to prove we aren’t dreaming,
even though we both know we have nothing to prove,

and nothing to lose,
please show me some meaning in all of this,
and I’m not asking for understanding,
I’m just acting for some acceptance,
I’m not asking for anything else actually,
well maybe also for you to at least acknowledge,
that I see you not part of you but all of you,
you can't fool me with those mirages,

I see right through the tools you use to confuse with,
you see I see you,

so accept this,
without exception,
show me your Self,
or show me nothing,

tell me something,
that you’ve been waiting to never share,
because I’ve gone numb from all these faux pas feelings,
and false hand dealings from those that never cared,

see it seemed I’d lost hope until I found you right there,

and now,
I’m seeing,
something,
someone,
who reminds me,
you remind me,
to remember,
that we felt once,
and for that,
I love you,
forever,
and I’m indebted to you,
and I’m here,
to return the favor,
so I remind you,
that we felt once,
and we still do,
and I still see you,
not the fake you but the real you,
and the real you wants the real truth and the truth is I see you,
or at least I saw you before I forgot to remember,
because you forgot to remind me to remind you...

The truth is,
I saw you for real,

not just your eyes,
though they were the window,
not just your mouth, though it was the door,

the truth is,
I saw you,

in a flash of light,
in a fleeting moment of intangible time,
somewhere between uncontrollable chaos,
and unconscious calm,

I saw you,

and in that fleeting moment,
I saw we all want to feel,
both comfortably numb,
as well as every possible awkward emotion,

imagine all the people living in harmony,

see there’s a little Lennon in all of us,
just not enough...

∆ Aaron LA Lux ∆
Please remember...
The Calm Jun 2017
Shoot me, You might as well, cause I'm a threat
A threat to your system, a threat to your net
profit and status quo, so pick up that gun shoot me and pray to the ground I go, and when you bury me you better call me a madman and pray that the martyrs don't grow

You may as well shoot me Mr.Police officer,
It may put your employers at ease
One bless black man with a heart of power
One less antibiotic to your disease
Don't forget to tell me I'm resisting, don't forget to tase me til I fall
Don't forget to choke me so those listening won't hear my struggles, my calls
Don't forget to have the media depict me as a ****, and a criminal and a menace to society
Don't forget to  reprimand and berate me
Remind  your older white listeners that my kind, my skin color
is still not considered American Propriety
But more like American property, disposable goods

So **** me, the cameras are recording but don't worry you'll get off free
Might be just a conviction but your *****'s new henchmen and ***** still got the key
A couple months paid administrative leave so you can sit on a beach, drink some ice tea
Mad that you can no longer put chains on our wrists so you put handcuffs instead
No longer pulling whips across our backs so you bury hot burning lead
No longer working your fields for all to see but instead privatized free prison labor with your warden holding the key.

Martin told me when he us that he had a dream
I got his same DNA in my bloodstream
And in every cell in my body I feel the effect, I teem
I boil I scream, when I see a black mother or father gunned down by police men and the children witnessing the death, the blood, the stream.....

I scheme, and when I sleep, I dream
And when I dream it's bad news for you
to avenge those we lost by crimes, undue
To put a stop to all of you.
Mark Lecuona Apr 2017
A baby was born
Not knowing his people
Or that his path had been chosen
When he realized the truth
Of his color and his world
He saw the struggle to keep his pride unbroken

He will never be free
Until a bullet learns how to love

He read the words
And saw the pictures
Of long ago dreamers and haters
Wondering if it was real
And what he should do
He had no idea he would die like his savior

He will never be free
Until a bullet learns how to confess

As the anthem was sung
His hand covered his heart
But his people continued to cry
His children tried to laugh
But someone told them no
He did not know how to tell them why

He will never be free
Until a bullet learns how to be equal

A boy was put in his place
He learned about rejection
All he wanted was to make a friend
A bullet punctured his dream
But his children still knew
That grace saves what men would condemn

He will never be free
Until a bullet learns how to be human
This is in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who was assassinated on this day back in 1968
unwritten Jan 2017
on tuesday,
dylann roof was sentenced to his death.
on tuesday we tried
to make one body feel like nine.
to make one body feel like justice.
on tuesday we said
there has got to be some price to pay
for entering the house of god
with a sinful tongue
and a handgun.

today,
six days later,
we remembered the rev. dr. martin luther king, jr.
we looked at the world,
called it a place with potential for change,
called it that because there has to be some softer way
to look at bloodshed,
for sanity’s sake.
if not then
all that remains is a solitary image of dr. king rolling in his grave because he knows,
knows that breathless black bodies
are a constant,
are transcenders of time,
whether sunken in rivers,
hung from taut ropes,
or bathing in blood on historic church floors,
singing, singing, screaming, shrill
for some messiah bringing mercy, mercy, mercy.

felicia sanders wants mercy:
prays for it, wills it down from up above,
unfolded from the hands of god
so that it might fall upon the head and in the eyes
and within the very being
of the man who killed her son.


it takes a certain grace —
one so foreign to me i can hardly write of it —
to see god in such men who deliberately defy Him,
to ask that heaven’s gates
be so indiscriminate and overt.
i would want him to burn for this.
but it is not my say,
not my life,
not my long, resounding, unflinching “hallelujah!”
not my certain type of grace.

breathless black bodies
are a constant,
are transcenders of time, a recurring motif.
but so too, then, is the black body full
of breath,
that inhales and exhales faith
without ceasing.

such is the black body
that sees a little bit of god in dylann roof,
that prays that he prays for forgiveness,
that thinks there to be but one kingdom,
and he, too,
a worthy subject.

the solitary image of dr. king rolling in his grave
is not a surprise.
the black body has always known
so well
how to die.

but felicia sanders hopes her son’s killer finds mercy.
perhaps the one thing the black body has always known better
is how to love.

(a.m.)
written 1.16.17 in honor of MLK day, and of the charleston church shooting victims. #blacklivesmatter, today, tomorrow, and always
Mark Lecuona Jan 2017
Where the sun always sets
They arrived
Armed with nothing
But truth
The Bill of Rights
Courage
And faith
They came
To do the right thing
To show them a rising sun
And how it exists
For everyone
No matter what they were told
No matter the lies
No matter the hate
Yes
The rising sun was there
Eclipsed by fear
Morning in America
Blinded their eyes
And they knew not to look
It was not for them
And as they looked away
Their long nights were empty
Without peace
Without justice
Without sleep
Not even a dream
And yet they remained
Although silent
They knew
Because hope grows
In the dark
And as they tilled the garden
They did dare to cultivate
Hope
By awaiting
The deliverer
And when the truth
Perished
In their midst
Those who were privileged
To see the sun rise
Remained silent
Even though they knew
Of the truth
And how it could never live
But finally
The deliverer did arrive
Heralded not by a trumpet blast
But with God’s message
In his heart and mind
And man's own words
As they were written
In his hand
How all men are created equal
He came
With solemn righteousness
With words
And a dream
He came
And told us of unmerited pain
And of burning churches
Where anguished cries
Once again were not heard
And how those who remained silent
Were the key to the idea
Of America
Where liberty
And Justice
Is for all
Where the sun rises
And sets
For every man
And woman
But on that day
When the evangelists
Of civil liberties
Were tortured
Killed
And buried
So their mothers could only weep
Over unmarked graves
The sun did set
And failed once again
To rise
As the children wondered
Why am I different?
ConnectHook Jan 2017
♛   ♛   ♛

Martin Luther, righteous King,
made the Reformation sing.
Popes and peasants, out of key
turned it into misery.
German beer and Roman crimes
made for most uncivil times
much like our own. We must confess
rights and wrongs we yet possess...

Half a millennium later on
a Baptist pastor and his son
took this noble Saxon name
and furthered the Reformer's fame.
Some revisionists deny
St. Martin Luther's role, and try
to minimize theology
in civil rights chronology.
The second Luther of my song
inspired—but did not last as long.
Social Justice notwithstanding,
King's successors need re-branding.
Politicians steal his mantle,
cloak their lies in his example;
agitators claim his glory
pushing God out of the story;
educators sing his praises
but some people's conduct raises
doubts about that dream of King—
and hope... and change...  and everything.
martinize  (Verb)
to use the Martinizing dry-cleaning process

from: www.yourdictionary.com/martinize

When chemist Henry Martin introduced a new solvent to dry clean clothes in 1949, One Hour Martinizing was born.

from: www.martinizing.com

⛧ ♛ ✪  ✰ ♚ ♗ ☭ ♝ ⛧ ♛ ✪  ✰ ♚ ♗ ☭ ♝
Rod Watson Jul 2016
I open my eyes up
And I see the world as it is
I ask myself is this how it's going to be
I ask myself are we really free

What choices do I have
Hillary or Trump
Like seriously man
Are you kidding me

One people say is a liar and cheat
The other one people say is a racist with a hair piece
Are these really the choices I have
Must I just accept the world as it is

Either way the USA is gonna take a lost
I know we must pick a president but at what costs
Either way its gonna be a downfall
The american citizens are gonna take it the hardest of all

This is the world as it is
But the presidential polls
Isn't the only thing that is taking its toll

Black lives matters yes they do
But to me all lives matter that is a true fact too
Cops killing innocent people without conviction is wrong
But we can not retaliate on the police an take their lives
For two wrongs
Do not make a right

What happened to the peace that MLK wanted
He wanted us all to get along
Is that wrong?
Must I just accept the world as it is?
This is basically just me expressing my concern for my country
Humanity?
What is humanity?
Does it exists in only films or as well in reality?
Do you think that acting humanely is equal to ignominy?

Humanity is present in each and everyone of us..
Its a choice to be made just like hatred and trust..

Humanity is the only missing element..
a world like ours,god never meant..

Poor ones sleeping on the streets,
while rich ones under their royal bed sheets..

Poor ones dying gradually because of the lack of bread..
Rich ones dying slowly and painfully puffing their cigarettes..

What if you rich guy,
sacrifice your cigarette and give the poor ones some money to buy,
the things on which they rely..
..rely to live their daily lives..

It would be an opportunity for the poor ones to live for at least one more day..
and an occasion for you to stop smoking for a good cause..
hence offering to yourself more:
minutes,hours,days,months,years,..
..to live for..

Humanity is a choice to be made,
for,its not paid..
but certainly allows you to help the ones afraid..

The ones afraid of dying tomorrow,
leaving their children in sorrow..

afraid of not being able to live for one more day,
to try to offer to their children a better day than yesterday..

afraid of not being able to make of the lives of their children a brighter one..

Make of humanity a MUST!
-Sharvish
Martin Luther King: "Make a career of humanity, commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in."
Humanity is lost..
lets find it again..
lets bring it back to life..
because the world will never be the one we dream of without humanity..
Mark Lecuona Apr 2016
How can we forget who died trying to make us equal
Somebody said it’s up to you to make it happen
But you don’t know what you would do laying in your crib
Would you make mud out of dirt floors in your mansion?

It wasn’t a made-up soul standing on the corner
Though you thought he was dead in his mother’s womb
She gave birth in a world that didn’t want him to live
But the song he once sang echoes in our own tomb

The voices of the past continue to haunt our thoughts
Yet the dead remain mute leaving us with our own cries
We read their words and wait for a stillborn prophecy’s birth
As the day ends the sun laughs through sacrificial eyes

The floor rises as each page is ripped from the book of life
Who watches while I decide between penance or desires?
What piper would play two songs when only one can be heard?
We await the answer hoping it's the one our heart requires
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