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Centuries In the Making


Dear Estefany,

I am 19 years old, but centuries in the making. 
Don't you think that's amazing? We have all been in the making for centuries. 
Less than 1% of our biological makeup links us to our ancestors, but the intertwining of our past creators shaped our whole identities.  
 
Before you stands a pale green eyed Dominican girl. 
But I am indeed of African descent.
The creation of centuries that depicted prohibited relationships with slaves, later followed by segregation, hate, and pain. 
I am the proud older sibling to a beautifully brown, "Morenita" younger sister.
Who's surrounded by people who ask her why we don't look the same.
 
But when I look at my reflection I can't seem to comprehend the inquisitory questioning 
For isn't the blood that runs through my veins the same 
And just as heavy as the ones that trickled down the wounds
Inflicted by the whips of a human being 
On all those innocent colored children 
 
Isn't the pain of a white girls memory of getting rapped, just as strong as the misery felt by a black mother whose children are being sold away
 
Those stereotypic inquisitions have been centuries in the making. 
 
I must admit I am filled with anger and shame because I can't seem to fathom how a society of any race could displace a group of people 
Harass them based on features 
Bomb the churches of black preachers 
Steal their last shreds of dignity with thin strips of leather 
And then send them into the unknown, from their homes, in numbers unmeasurable 
 
But the "white people", the "right people", the "I am better than you" people
Stood proudly, flaunting their superiority 
 
I think to myself they must've been insane because
All African Americans where trying to obtain ...was equality 
Are we not all of the Human race? 
 
Yes, those people too were centuries in the making. 
 
But then again we must admit it takes time to break a chain because centuries spend on being Inhuman 
Can be viewed as ok!! 
If it's the only view you've been exposed to since the age of three 
If it's the only truth you've known growing up as a teen 
 
A white boy stands over an innocent black woman on the floor he's just hurt
And all he sees is dirt 
Because his Daddy repeated every day how he was blessed with the gift of intellect
And that those ignorant colored people 
Where lower in comparison than the garbage he threw in his trash can  
 
That boy was centuries in the making. 
 
Our clock is ticking by 
Our chance to be the change we crave will soon subside 
Yes! We as a nation have come far 
But our change must be worldwide
There is more slavery now than any other period in time 
My three minutes are almost done but three minutes aren't enough to summarize 
The struggles of so many lifetimes 
 
You see what we need to do is embrace the Transcendentalism 
Because the truth of existence lays outside the reach of physical human senses and perceptions 
There is a God above who should fuel your motivation 
Don't let the past keep recurring  
We need to stray away from such conformity 
Let's reach out and capture of essence of individuality 
 
New ideas, New truths, more humanity. 
More people like Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and Malcom X
People who put their lives on the line to undo the wrongs of the rest 
 
People whose words seep into the hearts of a blinded population 
and stay imprinted on everyone it affects 
 
I wrote to you before, confused and ashamed 
But Now .. As I look around the room 
I am blinded by the brightness of our future 
 
A room with passionate young students who have been in the making for centuries 
But hold the key to unlock their spiritual destiny 
 
You are the change 
And who knows maybe the next Rosa or Dr.King is sitting beside you this very day
 
Love, Future you, the artist and teacher 
 
 
©All Rights Reserved

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