in the midst of social distancing where you can’t get as close as a hand shook
now witness the colors of justice
just imagine…
how would taking the stand look-
like
if you were ambushed
and ran shook-
fright
from a father and son driving a truck towards a man on foot-
trying
to get away from what seemed to be a planned good-
night
where they would attack a black man jogging in broad day
light
and treat him like a crook
I
heard so many people say racism ain’t real and history is just something stuck in a book
right
cuz nobody lives and thinks that way about black people, besides who cares what you look
like
but again those same stigmas uncovered themselves and took
life
during this time where a pandemic had us all one, and coming together, dying regardless of what we look
like
but time and time again it seems justice had already pre-took
sides
Ahmaud Arbery
Ahmaud Arbery
AHMAUD ARBERY fought for his life!
a position he shouldn’t have been put in in the first place
and his family didn’t even get close to justice being exercised til almost three months later arraigned the day of his birthday
exercise
he was just out for an exercise
who would think jogging down a street would get your life jeopardized
with false claims of a series of break-ins just to OK two men being weaponized
harassing him just to fall back on stand your ground laws
where the shadows of two trucks was creeping on him like a groundhog
we politicize everything but Americas dirty truth is seldom confronted at town halls
while many racial epithets prejudices and systemic injustices sound off
in places like Georgia,
one of four states that dont legislate hate-
crimes
where you couldn’t get any closer to the true face of injustice even if you face-
timed
race is still a factor vaguely being heard thru the grape-
vine
where slurs work nerves to coerce concerns, but what you learn, is for a oppressed voice to be heard, it takes-
times
because everybody says its better than what it once was
but where’s the love for the families that lost loves
for the same motivations of what it once was
and it takes these acts to go viral before the rights and dignity of these colored victims to come up
my cultures post african history can be summed up
in a moment of silence, a moment of protest, then a moment of violence
because there’s been too many moments where tears corroded our eyelids
and if kids are promoted as priceless
then why does it feel like if the color dips, those colored kids are demoted and denoted as primates
we’re stuck in impoverished communities as a result of gentrification and live like crabs in a bucket
so it makes it easier for you to see and say how we kill ourselves so your attitudes towards us is summed up like, ‘eh, fuck it’
how can we ever calm down
if we can’t put our arms down
while another color raises their arms up
and with the pull, there’s a sound, and we fall gunned down
please somebody tell me what is the color of justice
because my rights feel handicapped bandaged and on crutches
‘cuz we’ve suffered, but the suffering continues, so change that suffix to ‘ing’
because we’re still suffering
with vague coverage
of our depleted numbers
it makes you wonder
what is the true color of justice
because Ahmaud Arbery is just another odd number
caught in a Glynn County suburb
that represents the temperature of our country when it comes to the death of coloreds
we just get more number with mourned numbers
just imagine
this IS justice imagined
Jeannie says
It’s great to hear your own voice reading this important work. Thanks to you and all those who make it possible. I know we are 400 years too late and too long and too many lost and too much pain and injustice and loved ones going down. But I refuse to give up hope, to give up acting in love, taking action and making the difference we are called out to make, to live in discomfort zones till we get this vision right and every life is valued as one, the same as every other. Thank you for leading the way from where you stand and inviting the rest of us to do the same,