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.
Incredible! So beautifully written — deeply emotionally and lyrically pleasing to the eye and ear. Thank you!
Thanks again Rita. This was a hard one to write, but I’m glad people are liking it.
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.
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.
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..:)
I actually love vanilla! Thanks for your colorful comment. I do enjoy your responses! 🙂
Me too.. Smiles..:)
I love this – such a profound write 😀
Thanks so much Sanaa! 🙂
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.
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.
Pow! Now that’s a badass plea for sanity! Thank you – from your light brown brother Mosk
Thanks my brother! You know I was pleading too! 🙂
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 ~
Yes ma’am! Thank you so much. I do agree. We need peace.
that’s pretty great right there. very powerful writing.
Thank you!
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.
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.
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 ~
I love the last point you made. Very profound.
You said it first, Tameka! 🙂
Awww. Well, like minds. 🙂
Wow! That was excellent. Well said!
Thanks Madeleine!
Amen!
Yes indeed! Thank you!
🙂
Yes, we are all God’s body….and color is inconsequential. God doesn’t notice, and neither should we!
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.
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.
Thanks Marina! That’s been my thing this year. 🙂
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.
Thanks Lidy. We have to tell the truth. Bless you.
This is awesome, you are very talented. I hope I can reach people with my blog like you do someday, keep it up!
Thank you! I’m still building my audience. Keep writing sister!