"BLACK ENOUGH"

We, black people, as a whole,
Will close our eyes,
Shut our mouths,
And turn our backs.
To the stereotypes
That our people are partaking in.
We, as a whole,
Will drag our brothers and sisters down,
Who do not fit into the stereotypes
That society has placed high
Over our heads.
We will drag down our kind,
With the label
"BLACK ENOUGH"
Held high,
And proudly,
Over our heads.
Black people, as a whole,
Will spring into action
When any racial group
But our own
Discriminates us,
Yet we do it daily.
As a whole,
My African kind
Will tear down our own
From the temple of success,
For not being "black enough,"
For the lack of talking "black enough,"
And for refusing to act "black enough."
Acting "white"
Had become unacceptable
Among this race.
But can you please tell me,
What is "black enough?"
The ignorance that we speak
From between our lips,
Placing shame above the heads
Of our people,
Playing the role of a stereotype,
Is this "black enough?"
Will settling for less
Than I KNOW I am,
Finally make me "black enough?"
If I close my eyes,
Shut my mouth,
And turn my back
To the stereotypes being played out
By my own people,
By the people who don't accept me
As "black enough,
Will I finally be classified
as "black enough"?
If I have to play the role of a stereotype
To be accepted by my own people...
Then I don't want to be
"Black enough".