On Being a Human

 On being a human

 Mi Raza is not my race

For “race” begins the classification,

The determination of who I am and who I will become

I am a human first

Mi Raza is my people- mi gente-

Brought together not by the color of our skin

But by our proud and strong spirits

Wetbacks, aliens, gangbangers and whores

Derogatory slurs

The generalization that will raise

the question of

 my citizenship

My values

my

future

But I am a human first

America –“the land of the free”

Yet when I look all around me

I see

Oppression, manipulation

One war left behind

Only to enter a new one

In which each day brings a new struggle

Work hard

But you won’t get there

talk the talk -

but you’ll never fit in

take a good long look in the mirror

you don’t belong here

 Do you say untrue?

 Scoff at our views

that the system

needs to improve ?

so it is fate that

Suspensions hit a higher rate

among students of color

It is right

That migrant workers to the day

Work for little to no pay

Are we still humans first?

History has a habit of repeating itself they say

And to this day

I see it no different

Camps still exist

Raids still continue

Can you put a price on a dream?

On a hope?

On a life?

Everyone envisions a better life

Is that crime now?

To want something better for your loved ones

To want them to have something more than what you had

To see them succeed and live

Rather than see them bleed crimson on a street

One day when they’re at their very peak?

Because it can only be fair

When I.C.E knocks down your door

And throws you against the floor

While your family looks on

Because it can only be fair

When you are turned away

reason being

Your immigration status

It is only fair, ‘cause as you can see

my branding crime? Is being me

“I’m waiting, waiting on the world to change”

But I am done waiting

Done waiting for them to look

Further than the color of my skin

Further than the tongue that I speak

Because whether you choose

To see it or not

I rise, we rise

United and strong

Colores Unidos

Mi gente Unidos

We are humans first

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