Can You Hear Me?!

Dear White Person,

Do you remember me?

I'm the Negro, scratch that! The Nigga.

Does that ring a bell?

"Stop! Help me!! You're hurting me!!!”

Do you recognise that?

No. Of course not! 

Those were unspoken, forbidden.

Words, was I worthy of speaking them?

Memories, was I worthy of creating them?

Smiles, was I worthy of having them?

No! Because I am Black!

Growing up forged into the model of ignorance, you ask;

“Mother, please why does the slave have a scar on her face that is a different colour?”

“Mother please, why do I dress in lace when the slave is clad in rags?"

“Mother, please why...?”

You say “Mother” but I say “Master”

And “Master” is what I would address you

As when the pure clothes of ignorance and innocence are stripped off you

And your little white eyes sees me for who your people made me - just a Slave.

I was taught to dream like Martin Luther King

But how can I dream when I can’t close my eyes.

When all I see and believe in are proclaimed lies!

And when the cries of my people are all I hear in that second of darkness.

I was taught to fight like Harriet Tubman

But what use will my rights be if I stand for what is right

But in the way of the bullet, letting it sink into my skull.

I was taught to speak like Frederick Douglass

How can I? When my voice was stolen from me!

And thrown away like the filth my words were supposed to be.

My slang turned to slander.

My language, the ways of the Negro. 

Write? I had the letters of the alphabet carved into my black heart

But I couldn't make meaning of them because I was told I was a Slave

And being a Slave meant I was too dumb to understand. 

I wasn't worthy of reading or writing or fighting or living.

Agitate! Agitate!! Agitate!!!

But where lies my voice?!

Dear White Person,

Do you remember me now?

Caramel skin, dark chocolate, supple lips, full hips.

Oh wait, I forgot!

Swollen eye, busted lip, and bloody mouth,

Wide open with unspoken words.

Is that how you remember me?

Not as the human I am

But the empty shell I was

As you beat the life out of me.

Welts spread across my back;

A mark for each word spoken

A scar for each rib broken

My blood, a token for all the times I went against you.

Was I hated because of my black skin?

Black soul?

Black curse?

Black hatred?

Or my black goals?!

Fact is, my skin colour was nothing compared to the dark you had locked up in your heart

Darkness cannot drive out darkness!

I let you on me,

In me,

In my head,

In my body

I didn't complain when you forced your way inside of me,

Ripping me,

Tearing me apart.

It takes one bullet to break the black skin

It may take one word to break the black heart

But nothing can break the black soul!

It is fortified with centuries of strength accumulated,

Volumes of tears shed, 

Seas of blood spilt,

Filled to the brim with hope.

I grew up with determination

Not to become,

But to stay alive for the next generation. 

You took my colour and twisted it

Into something hateful and spiteful.

Your suppression suffocated me!

Corrupt advocate of peace!

You made me think my silence protected me.

You made me think those who loved me were my enemies.

When you were staring at me right in the face!

I don't seek revenge!

Nor your blood on my hands!

Because the Eye for an Eye philosophy,

Will render us both blind!

I’d rather you say these words, and mean it!

For the first time in my life,

I want to hear you to say;

"WE CAN HEAR YOU!"

Created By;

Juanita Alabi 
(Jay Rhapsodies)

(A Member of TDL)

Edited By; 

Atsu Dogbey

(A Member of TDL)