BLM - When You Hear News Like This

Written by Sarah Amanda Gabriel in relation to the BLM Movement

When you hear news like this,

You get angry and upset.

Not at me, but the world,

And the way people treat others.

When I hear news like this,

I become numb.

Soulless.

I don’t feel a thing.

You do all you can to try and fight and use your voice,

While I’m crying in my wondering ,

Who’s the next black man or woman that’s going to die,

Wondering if it’s my family or others,

If it’s a child, youth or adult,

If it were one or twenty.

You don’t know these things, do you?

You can post and repost all you want,

But only be what you can be,

An ally.

Nothing more nothing less.

You are not me.

You haven’t experienced what I experienced.

In a white society,

Your seen as white.

Your seen as one of them,

While I’m seen as someone who,

Doesn’t fit their quota of a black friend.

I don’t fit the quote of being worthy of you love and support.

You support online,

But when you see me it’s like a one way glass,

Only I can see you but you can’t see me.

You do wrong, they're gentle,

I do wrong, I die.

I try to change my life, my body, and I never succeed.

I try to find myself,

But all I see is the names I will get called for embracing my individuality.

You call us fun but when we get serious,

You say it’s a joke or it’s "not that deep".

You tell me that I’m too black or that I’m not black enough.

Yet you are not black and only have black friends.

You are not black but you seem to know everything about my culture.

I am angry and I am upset.

I am numb and I am soundless.