Before I even speak

Assumed to be illiterate before I even speak, most people figure I won't live to see the age of 18. I am only good for running with a ball in my hands and I will never understand the concept of being a man. Only 3/5 man is what they considered my ancestors to be . Whips lashed giving their bodies whip lash as tears fell from their unforgiving faces. No reparations only discrimination. I was born in 97 but I still feel the pain of Emmett till and Harriet Tubman . In school we learn about the founding fathers of the USA. How ironic we call them fathers but they ripped many colored families apart leaving fatherless children. children of my generation carry the burdens of our fathers. I am tired of begging to be seen as an individual. Tired of asking if I can live long enough to raise my son to be the man that they never allowed our forefathers to be. I am a outcome of misjudgment, miscommunication, segregation, humiliation, physical affiliation. I carry this burden on my back as bullets fly past my head. Bullets shot from the mouths of my generation. Bullets that continuously break us down to a face on the pavement. It may seem like the melanin in my skin is equivalent to sin, but don’t be mistaken I am not Trayvon Martin. No Arizona No Skittles. Just 1 mic 1 dream and a note pad.