It’s a white man’s world. In May 2020, George Floyd was suffocated to death by a police officer kneeling on his neck. This brutality resurged the Black Lives Matter movement. In response, white supremacists started the #GeorgeFloydChallenge where they’d share photos of one person on the ground with another person’s knee on their neck – to show that it’s no big deal. I felt enraged, confounded, betrayed, and dismayed by a society that I tried so hard to get to accept me, but suddenly didn’t want to belong to anymore. But then, I saw white people also on the frontlines of the protests along with brown, black, and all other colours of the skin. Although the problem was white, the solution was multicoloured! This inspired my poem.
To my friends who speak out against discrimination:
I hear you.
I see you
use your voice for those who have none.
Know that your voice helps,
and that it’s worth the fight.
We cannot tolerate intolerance.
The racism is real,
the reality is painful,
and the pain is really draining…
When I was 6 years old,
bullies aimed for my dark skin.
I learned karate to protect myself.
And my black belt could fight the bullies
but my darkness couldn’t fight the demons.
I’ve learned my inferiority in society.
I tried bleaching creams
and wore long sleeves in the sun
but the darkness won’t go away.
When I was 19,
I left home for a foreign land.
The more I see of the whole world,
the more I’m disturbed by the first world.
How we supply the merch for our lifestyles
with human lives from the third world.
How do museums justify their foreign merch?
Why are the exploited expected to forgive
When the oppressors don’t give back?
When I was 21,
I learned to be myself around white people.
Then I was 30,
and I learned to surround myself with colour!
But I still collect lines on a resume
to fill the void in my self-worth that widens
with every look of disdain.
I’m proud of how far I’ve come
but not proud of who I am.
I don’t discuss colour because
my emotions stifle my ability to speak,
I get choked up with my knees weak,
#icantbreathe.
I’ve learned my inferiority in society
and I’ve accepted it for today
But not for tomorrow!
No young child deserves to believe
That they’re not a flower but a weed.
I want Equal Opportunity
because Black Lives Matter
and I’m LGBTQ Proud…
Because we’re cut from the same cloth
So we’ve all got cause
To fight those clauses in racist laws
with our teeth and our claws.
Because justice needs guardians
just-as oppressors have enforcers.
Because it takes all of us to make a difference…
Make a difference.
To my friends who speak out against discrimination,
please let this be the beginning.
Please keep the conversation flowing,
Following your words with action.
Because our words change minds,
and then actions change our ways.
So don’t share that post and walk away.
Walk the talk.
Stand your ground.
Your privilege will protect you.
Make your actions felt and your voice heard.
To my friends who stand up against discrimination,
You are the change we need to see in the world
So thank you.
#icantbreathe
Original published here on 9th June 2020.