WE Didn’t Ask

WE didn’t ask for what is,

Or what has been.

WE didn’t ask to be where we are now,

& I assure you, WE didn’t ask back then.

WE didn’t ask to be ripped from Our Mother Land,

Only to serve “good” fortune to,

the white man.

WE didn’t ask for the rape,

the genocide,

or the hate.

WE didn’t ask for the chains,

or the “new” names.

WE didn’t ask for Our lives,

nor the lives of Our barely surviving generations,

To be disposed of in such heinous ways,

At the hands of

the white man.

WE didn’t ask to be your walking targets,

For reasons still unknown,

Other than the contrasts of Our skin tones.

& WE sure didn’t ask for the cities of this nation

to be built on Our back bones,

Or the ruins WE once called tomb stones.

WE didn’t ask for your Independence Day, your Christmas or your Thanksgiving.

Honestly,

WE were doing just fine with Our Día de los Muertos, Kwanzaa & Inti Raymi.

WE didn’t ask to be deemed a national threat.

WE didn’t ask to be detained & labeled “illegal alien”;

Previously referred to as “immigrant.”

huh...

How convenient?

WE didn’t ask to build the “land of the free.”

Had Our necks not been the ones taking the ropes strung through a tree,

The bullet,

Or even the knee...

I’d like to believe,

WE would have achieved a level of harmony,

That may have set

even,

the white man

FREE.

Which starts to get me thinkin’,

Especially about them “influential”

white men,

Mostly, Columbus, uncle Sam,

& even uncle Lincoln.

Since WE’re taught to believe that ole Abe was the kinda cat,

That makes a Nigga think he was down for the Blacks...

I initiated my search,

For the answers WE deserve.

Almost as quickly as it came,

Hope was replaced with shame.

As it started to be clear,

A glimpse into why WE are still here.

& It should be known,

That even then,

the white man

That cleared Our names as the enslaved,

Truly only required that three-fifths of Us be saved.

See,

There’s so much more to these “founding” folk,

That this nation made sure to keep on the low.

Think about

Washington, Jefferson, Madison & Monroe;

Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler & Polk;

In addition to Taylor, Johnson & Grant,

All slave owners,

& former holders of the national title:

U.S. President.

Now,

Try not to get it twisted.

Our history has always been a part of this country,

Even if you missed it.

& WE fully understand the fact,

That ya’ll can’t just take that back.

& WE hope y’all understand why WE refuse to cut y’all anymore slack.

Just like,

WE understand that All Lives Matter,

Unless you’re Brown, or Black.

WE know this ain’t an issue WE should still be debatin’,

I mean it is 2020,

Why y’all STILL hatin’?

So tell me,

Why must WE continue this fight,

For Our right to life,

Simply because ya’ll can’t see the light,

That emits from my brothers & sisters,

So brilliant & bright!

But, apparently not right,

Just because it ain’t white…?

Lemme tell you what I think.

See,

I think it's never really been about you or me,

Or even WE.

It’s always been about that one thing,

That keeps the

white man

Exactly where he wants to be;

& It goes by: supremacy.

But,

don’t think that’s just it.

Aside from secured perquisites,

Is an adjacent ability also seen fit,

A surety in soliciting Our lives for your indefinite profit.

“Royal blood”

“Tracks in the mud”

“Old Money”

All code for:

“WHITE SUPREMACY”

But see,

the white man’s

wealth has never been just the green,

& most definitely not home grown;

For centuries it has been shown,

as the miners of the silver & the gold,

Both, the young & the old.

The colonized & the ruined,

The brainwashed & now, even some of the disillusioned.

& For far too long, it’s been the blood flowing Black & Mexican,

That has maintained the current wealth of more than just one nation.

For so damn long that,

WE almost forgot about the price they had put on Native extermination.

Wealth & greed,

At the cost of entire races

Either slaughtered or “remedied,”

With intentions of securing global graces.

& Yet,

Not once did WE storm your villages,

Gentrify your masses,

Or plunder your “privileges.”

Instead,

WE were made

To not only accept Our fate,

But to be satisfied with bearing the weight

Of a nation that feeds on hate.

But,

The product of a national mindset so set on being “great,”

that once seemed almost generationally innate,

Are no longer blows WE will silently take.

& What you see happening now,

Is truly,

History in the making.

A movement so groundbreaking,

That WE literally have the entire world shaking.

& In this movement,

WE sincerely do not ask for much:

Justice, empathy, compassion,

& a mutual understanding that

Enough Is Enough🖤