It was more than just a mere hush,
The breaking of our voices
Enveloped us with silence.
Long ago,
Taken by control
To “Manifest Destiny”
The loss of everything
And now we are here.
In this moment she sees
Underneath the color of skin,
Begging to fit in,
The desire to be free
While still wearing the skin of me.
But who gave the power to man
To make us understand
That what I see
Before me
Is the definition of “beneath”?
To say my brown skin
Will never within
Society today shall I win
In anyway
To be a slave to the mind
And not have the power to grind
To be nothing more than labor
Not in any way a leader.
To follow the herd
As they choose the stereotypes
For my kind to fit into.
My rights are lost
My battles remain
Fighting for a cause
To help me regain
A rightful place in life
To be seen by more than just the eye
No, no, not to disguise
My skin
But to reprimand
The ideas that come with
Minority
In hindsight
Do we not recognize
That liberty goes side by side
With the justice to speak mind?
Yet still,
We find a way
At the end of the day
To silence the voices of men
And still call it justice.
Shame on you.
Shame on the name
Who dare say
That I will never amount to anything
Except to become a picker or clean.
My generations before
Picked and cleaned to open a door
For my many opportunities
To be all that I can be.
Today, that ends
I am breaking my silence.
Say what you will
Because I am determined
And still,
I will prevail
And become more than tales
Lies and deceit
That think they can represent me
But they don’t
My brown skin
Tells stories of greatness within
And the struggles of my past
With the scars lying within
Will never silence me again.
I break the chains
That tried to hold my name
From being spoken with dignity
As I walk across the stage
To reclaim my destiny.
I earned the degree
I am set free.
