My Black Body is a Threat

My-Black-Body

My black body is a threat

 

Even as a tennis pro

Even when at rest

This blackness is a threat

 

My color is a test

 

Can I keep my calm

Maintain my cool

While my body pays a debt

 

To those who place the bets

On how many of us they can snare up in these nets

 

Damn

 

Is it not over yet

 

Peace is yet a dream

 

And my heart and soul still frets

Over hatred I do not get

 

My brain strains to maintain just why

Rich chocolate is a threat

 

Or how Cocoa Caramel can be feared

We are all God’s body and deserve to be right here

 

There is no living without us

 

No existence without we

 

No civilized land could prosper

If he had not created thee

 

Or she

 

Or he

 

Or me

 

You are not the chosen ones

God’s jewels he crowned all with favor

Yes, yes, yes especially your brown neighbors

 

Glory didn’t breathe life into threats

He carved and crafted and molded royalty

Ones he’d never forget

 

So you should do the same

Drop your guns

Extend your hands

And call us by our names

 

We’re brown, dark and dynamic

Beige, bold and bright

 

Beings placed to survive here

We’re angels in his sight

 

So who are you to destroy

God’s great and shining light

 

 

© 2015 – 2017, TamekaMullins. All rights reserved.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Sep 13, 2015 | Posted by in Blog, Poetry | 36 comments

Comments (36 Responses)

  1. Rita says:

    Incredible! So beautifully written — deeply emotionally and lyrically pleasing to the eye and ear. Thank you!

    • TamekaMullins says:

      Thanks again Rita. This was a hard one to write, but I’m glad people are liking it.

  2. Glenn Buttkus says:

    Wow, got timed out & trashed; never had that happen before; hard to rave on about your poem iwht the clock ticking; nice to end it on a a hopeful note.

    • TamekaMullins says:

      I’m sorry you got timed out Glenn! That just happened to me on another post too. Thanks so much for visiting. I appreciate it. 🙂

      I am now in the habit of copying my comment in case something happens before I post. It’s been a savior for me as I tend to write longer comments.

  3. Oh the vanilla life.. so bored and white..
    if only ‘they’ CAN Happy
    liKe US..
    they
    WiLL
    Love
    Chocolate too..
    or even Strawberries..
    who knows.. i Feel
    blanKet wITh
    ET
    or Not..
    i am ET..
    so what’s not
    to Love about
    ThE PLANeT..
    EArTH.. sMILES
    it looks so wHole
    sOme frOm
    far aboVe..
    blue
    and green
    eYe of
    beauty
    BEINg..
    I LOVE IT ALL..
    AS RAINBOW COLOR..:)

  4. Sanaa Rizvi says:

    I love this – such a profound write 😀

  5. Gabriella says:

    I like the way you approached this issue. Your poem felt both personal and universal. I was also quite horrified to see what happened to the tennis player.

    • TamekaMullins says:

      James Blake is one of my favorite athletes so it angered me and made me sad to see him treated this way. He truly is a gentleman, but even if he wasn’t, the officer didn’t follow procedure and it was based on bias. Thanks for reading and for sharing your thoughts on what happened.

  6. ihatepoetry says:

    Pow! Now that’s a badass plea for sanity! Thank you – from your light brown brother Mosk

  7. Grace says:

    I like the meaningful share ~ This is one is really good : We’re angels in his sight ~ If only we can drop our guns, extend our hands and call each other’s names, then maybe peace will come ~

    Thanks for linking up with D’verse ~

  8. that’s pretty great right there. very powerful writing.

  9. kanzensakura says:

    Yes ma’am, Tameka is in the house and taking down names….this is just wonderful. So full of truth and beauty and I personally like vanilla ice cream with the fudge swirl because that gives it flavor and depth and puts us all happy together in one container, both complete in each other. Separate but using each other to make the other better. Excellent. I wish I twittered. This would be sent out to the world.

    • TamekaMullins says:

      Thank you! It’s not about pretending that there are no differences, but it’s about appreciating and respecting what’s different and not being afraid of it.

  10. Bodhirose says:

    I absolutely loved this and feel inspired by its positivity. You said something so simple and yet profound too…it’s hard to hate someone that you call by name and extend your hand to.

    Gayle ~

  11. Wow! That was excellent. Well said!

  12. othermary says:

    Amen!

  13. Mary says:

    Yes, we are all God’s body….and color is inconsequential. God doesn’t notice, and neither should we!

    • TamekaMullins says:

      I don’t think there is anything wrong with noticing color and culture. We should take notice and appreciate it. But what we should not do is discriminate against people that look different than we do.

  14. MarinaSofia says:

    Very well said! I like the play between bold and normal font – and if you just read the bold, they almost make up a poem in themselves.

  15. Lidy says:

    Love the poem. I like how you don’t hold back in addressing how the perception of skin color is a reality that needs to cease and overcome.

  16. jaenichelle says:

    This is awesome, you are very talented. I hope I can reach people with my blog like you do someday, keep it up!

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