Off in the distance you make out many different voices
United
Rising
Chanting
Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter
You attempt to control your emotions but the more they chant the more you lose control and finally it’s all too much
and you scream at the crowd, don’t you know that All Lives Matter, and that Blue Lives Matter
Shocked by your outburst the crowd quiets until one lone voice try’s to explain that throughout history Black Lives have been valued far less than others
She goes on, explaining that we’ve been treated as livestock
Children have been spat on as they entered newly desegregated schools
Billy Holiday even explained that strange fruit blossomed and hung from trees
We‘ve seen Rodney King videoed beaten in the streets
Bothan Jean executed because he appeared to eat ice cream to dangerously
Breonna Taylor Killed in her sleep
Two resumes exactly the same except for African American name, only one will be called and after all of this you dare to exclaim that All Lives Matter
My question is to who
She continues, stating that police at the end of their shift remove their uniforms
But Blacks, however, can’t remove their skin color
Although some have tried poisoning themselves with bleach
-Beyoncé says we wake up like this, but she forgot to mention that some of us also fall asleep like this-
Desperate to assimilate but preconceived notions cover us from head to toe like our bodies have been dusted for fingerprints
Our Sons fit the description of what you think of as dangerous
Tall with skin that is darker than yours
But we’ve taught them, if stopped to keep their hands on the wheel and to always say yes and no sir
But history has proven that even this is sometimes not enough
The year is 1984 and my 18-year-old uncle stopped for a traffic violation was taken in alive but returned to us in pine
The story of so many black lives that did not matter
Her final plea is, can’t you understand that the only difference between me and you is the color of our skin
You see if I scrub and scrub
Skin does peel
Tendons come on display
Can’t you see that underneath we’re all the same
I scrub, and scrub as I pray, please don’t kill our sons
I scrub and scrub down to glistening white bone
I scrub until I hear my ancestors scream
Black Lives Do Matter
Then, she pleads, Mr. Officer next time you stop a young black male please treat him with the same respect you want afforded to your son
Because that young man is someone’s child and they want him to come home safe and sound
Reality, rushes over you
Hearing all those explanations causes the blinders that once covered your eyes to clear and you begin running those statements over and over,
But just as your mind begins to open, your old friend unconscious bias taps you on the shoulder and whispers in your ear
Hey, it’s not your fault that some lives matter more than other’s