lief vir jouself- love yourself

Being as black as the night sky isn’t easy

“You’re so black, you’re skin looks like it hasn’t spent a day without the sun,” they say

“So rachet and loud, I think your family back in Africa can hear you,” they say

My race shall not define who I am

My chocolate family did not fight for nothing

They fought for their right to be noticed

Fought dark dogs, black fire hoses, and white men

To earn their right to be noticed and accepted

Rosa Parks did not sit in the front of the bus for fun

Martin Luther King Jr. did not lead thousands of different shades on a 54 mile walk to Montgomery because he thought it was good to get some exercise

I walk beside you and see that you have a black shadow

I am not less than you because the color of my skin is more swarthy

I am human and I have a right to speak out about my beliefs

Life is full of many colors, one of them being brown

America is not just red, white, and blue

Being black isn’t easy

But sometimes people stare at me

With looks of disgust smudged across their wrinkled, ugly faces

They are trying to sell cars, soda, clothing

They’re trying to sell me out of business

What good does selling me out of business do

“Like one down only 7 billion more to go!”

Would you me to present you with an award?

Congratulations for making me feel like nothing

I have something special to all those people

Who made me feel irrevelant

that ‘s bull... crap its bull crap

The clerks watch me too closely

as I pass down aisles

I sit at home and watch tv seeing

Someone who does not look like me

I look in the mirror and frown at first

Then I see the beauty that lies inside me

I look in the mirror and back at vibrant self

And smile