Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter Not all lives matter Not blue lives matter Black Lives Matter I'm not saying your life doesn't matter but When did ours? You purposely don't acknowledge your power Everything we have to work for You have been able to get handed to you Leeches to our culture Vulture to our works We create, build, manifest, and explore For you to turn around and take credit for It's exhausting The degradation The dehumanization To where sometimes I sit down and believe your lies Question my life as opposed to yours Do I matter? But I'm reminded that even though I have been taught to believe you are superior My brothers and sisters are Kings and Queens without the recognition My skin has been made to survive through these trials and tribulations Melanin, we were made with careful preparation So through 400 years of turmoil and exhaustion I will still fight for the rights of my people No matter how tired we may become I will continue to scream Black Lives Matter Till my lungs give out Because I am proud to be black And that is one thing you can never take away from me |
This work first appeared on youngwritersproject.org at: https://youngwritersproject.org/node/35182
Author: N'Jeri Marner is a 16 year old Black girl who resides in NY. She finds significance in sharing her experiences through poetry in hopes for others to feel seen and heard. Versatility is something that is also of great importance to her because she chooses to venture into multiple areas of interest such as poetry as well as modelling, psychology and mathematics.