They Try to Strip Me Clean

Dignified,

unhypnotized,

very civilized,

not recognized, and

not mesmerized by what

you

try to make of me.

All I have is what I think of me.

My dignity, you cannot strip from me

despite

what the enemy is conjuring.

Waving his currency in my face

as if it’s enough

to make up for what he stripped me of.

That’s bull…

My melanin queen raised no

buffon.

Some of us

are capable of behaving

without cursing and raging.

And I just want to remind you that

I am not what you attempted to

make me of.

I am not the lack of education

in our neighborhoods;

Incompetent to your white dominance

“Sleep”

on your “All Lives Matter” movement

that you strategically use to

smother

the black Americans who started it.

BLACK LIVES MATTER…

And that doesn’t mean others do not.

That’s what we say to remind you that our

dignity

is your biggest enemy.

That’s why we’re still here.

You criticize me as if I am less.

Yet, I have the dignity to refute your harsh critiques.

So I say:

my skin is not too black,

it is brown and it glows.

My hair is not too nappy,

it is strong and kinky to put up with what

you

say is wrong.

My nose is not too wide,

it is a distinction of

my people.

Diversify your mind.

We are not defined by our skin color

yet, it never fails that you let us forget.

So, I must remind myself that when you cheer

“Make America great again!!!”

There is a place for my greatness.

I must remind myself that when you cheer

“Make America great again!!!”

There is a place for me on that A-List.

I must remind myself that I have to push to be one of

the greatest.

My dignity, you cannot strip from me

despite

what the enemy is conjuring.

Waving his currency in my face

as if it’s enough

to make up for what he stripped me of.

That’s why I will remain

unhypnotized to your antics,

very civilized and well mannered,

individualized because you think

I can’t be

recognized for the person

i’m becoming.

My dignity, you cannot strip from me.

despite

what the enemy is conjuring.

Waving his currency in my face

as if it’s enough

to make up for what he stripped me of.

I cannot live without my dignity.

If it was stripped from me,

I would become what you intended for me to be.

I refuse.