Apartheid

It’s been 60 years

60 years of fear, tears, and death.

But I still remember the feeling I got when you announced those laws.

I remember the day and time, 

even the weather that day.

The world stopped that day.

And a new one started

One full of hatred and fear from all sides.

What did we do wrong?

Nothing, you have no reason that you did this.

Accept that you wanted us to do things on our own.

What do you think we’ve been doing all these years?

Even before the laws that separated us from each other we were alone.

We’ve been forced to go through this world alone.

Alone

That’s a feeling that we could not escape because you even found a way to tear apart our families.

Why?

All because the color of our skin.

We can’t help that, we can’t help the anger that we now have towards a government that was supposed to protect us.

Even after we finally gained freedom you still felt like you did nothing wrong.

I don’t think you remember the events like I do

What lies has you convinced yourself to believe?

You make it seem like you’re a good person that had my best interest in mind,

But how am I supposed to succeed in life without the help of others?

It’s the misconception that you have everyone believing.

That you were trying to do good.

But that’s not what happened.

At night I hear the cries of all 69 men and woman that were killed and many more.

They aren’t crying in fear or pain, but anger.

They want us to hear them when they say we can not give up.

And to those 179 children that heard those cries and followed the orders of their ancestors, we cry for you too.

The protest aren’t for fun, this is a must.

We must stand with each other because we know the government that promised that to us will not.

So I wear this green, black, and gold band on my arm and protest.