Let Your Black Skin Sing

My identity came with those around me because the ink cartridges on my skin weren’t enough

I am not black like the other black boys and girls

I am light and mixed and whispered under the breaths of millions lucky

But I watched my dark-skinned brothers and sisters sit down as they watched

Boy on the screen get shot like it was target practice

I’m not going to go into this, but I am going to talk about

The way dark skin goes with the color of the sun

Because their skin is made of what the sun can give

Have you ever seen a black woman in yellow?

Her skin making love to the sun

A black man looks up at the sun for reassurance

My cousins sat in the sun in their backyards because that was safer

After Stephon Clark, they won’t sit out there for a while

Instead, they will contemplate in their homes in front of the windows

They will think about how they were the first on this earth

They will think about their heritage and their skin made

To bathe in the sun like it was a life source

They will remember the big black supporters like Malcolm X, MLK Jr, Rosa Parks

But listen to a lucky person who only gets targeted for other reasons

You are the next black supporters, you are the revolution

You are the next Emancipation Proclamation, the next Brown v. The Board of Education

You will not be beaten down, even if you’re killed we will always love you more

Then the designated hashtag and songs

You will lay in our hearts forever just as MLK and Huey Newton

Your skin will bathe in the sunlight without the worry of freedom being taken away

Let your skin sing.