Written by Sarah Amanda Gabriel
When I wake up (or I open my eyes and..)
I see light
I go out and see beauty and freedom
But it is not my freedom / but it’s not me that’s free
When they see me they see danger
They see and immediately put me in a box
A box that I have not created nor accepted
My names in there like a permanent stain
My identity is stripped
My life already seen and told
By the many that don’t understand
They aren’t me
They don’t know me yet they seem to
I am different
We are different but yet you all think the same
We are peace and kindness
But all you see is war and hatred
Oppression and crime
We are simply killed by the colour of our skin
We are born to fight or flight
We fight we die we flight we die
When I look into the future
I see my life
But then have to remember who I am
How I was born
And the world we live in
Remember that tomorrow isn’t determined
Remember that your a danger to your own generation and society
In this world that promotes equality and individuality
Only see what they want to see
I’m admired and praised upon
You want to be me, see me, live me
But when life starts you back away
Like it’s too much for you
You never had ‘the talk’
The talk of being black in a white society
Being black in a society
Being born from a history of oppression and exploitation
We have gone through genocides, wars, white supremacy, unequal rights and freedom
Our land stolen from us
Our lifestyles deleted and erased
Taught to learn the white way
The right way
when all you promote is stealing and unorganic thinking
You don’t have you own identity
So many people experience the similar things
Countries with similar history, some don’t
But only one is in the eye
The eye of the crowd
The eye of the world
And the eye of the future
We are not innocent we are not angels
But we are not demons
We are not monsters
We are not the people that steal and take whatever we like and are never accountable
We have morals and ethics
They have a corrupt system and privilege
When you say all lives matter
Your thinking of a world that doesn’t exist
A world that will never exist
I didn’t sign up to be profiled the day
I was born or the moment of conception
We do not have a choice
We are taught ways to not be killed and arrested
Not the way to live a happy and fulfilling life
We aren’t accepted into society as much as you think
We still are feared by our future in-laws and co-workers and employers
We are watched by everyone when in public
They say it isn’t about race
But everything has everything to do with race
Whether you like it or not
We fight and fight but are only let down by the people who swore to protect and serve us
We are let down by the people who taught us and told us they had faith in us
We are let down by the image that was created by the people who tried to get rid of us
You build us up to tear us down
I AM BLACK BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE
I AM BLACK AND NOT ASHAMED
I AM BLACK, MY MUMS BLACK, MY DADS BLACK
And my soul is slowly turning black
We retaliate and you beat us
We retaliate and you kill us
We tell you our problems and you want to use it against us
You want culture but can’t find you own
You want the our slurs because it’s cool
You want the word but you can’t have it
You won’t have it and that’s a promise
We finally have a platform a stage to voice and be listened to
But are filtered out and shadowed
Clouded
It’s your fault not mine
We were denied and turned away
You saw us as dirty and unnatural
To the human race
A mistake
The mistake was letting you have the power
The power to control me
The power to take over
I will not have you tell me what I can and cannot do
You will not have that power over me
Let us speak
Let us be heard
You have depicted and establish our life too long now
I’m not American but I’m not a stranger to this type of discrimination
I’m not American but my grandmother and aunts and uncles live there
I’m not American by genetics but I am by heart
I’m not American but I do feel the pain and scrutiny
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