F.E.A.R- The Troubles from Slavery to Modern Day

FACETED LIES, they weave through time, A diamond with edges sharp, Polished with the sweat of our ancestors, They shine, refracting truths untold, A prism of deceit, splitting life from our souls, From the auction block to the assembly line, They told us we were less, Measured out worth in Chains and cotton, Stripped of our tounges, Made our histories a whisper in the dark. ENCOURAGED TO BE THE SAME, Uniformity as safety, Homogenized dreams, flattened to fit the mold, No deviation, no color outside the lines, STAY IN LINE, STAY IN PLACE, BE GOOD, BE QUIET, BE INVISIBLE, Blending in to survive, Eroding our vibrancy, A monochrome mask cover a spectrum of brilliance. ASSIMILATED WITHOUT CHOICE, Pressed into the shape of survival, Adapt or perish, they said, Speak their language, wear their clothes, Lose your name, your gods, your ways, We learned to mimic, To dance their dance while our feet bled, Swallowed our pain, our rage, Become shadows in their sun, Ghosts of our true selves. REPRIMANDED FOR DOING THINGS THAT ARE NORMAL, For thriving, for living, for loving, Punished for our joy, our resilience, They call our laughter too loud, our stripes too proud, Criminalize our existence, Policing our bodies, our thoughts, our breath, Scar Tissue thick with history, We carry the weight of their fear, The burden of being unapologetically ourselves.