1865-2020

 can feel the energy shifting,
i can see the veil is lifting,

untold sorrows
set to seek illumination,
that harken back
to stillborn emancipation,
And have required a 
much clearer exclamation,

so as to break the chain.
so as to stop the slaying.
so as to lay bare the lies 
they've been saying, 
since reconstruction 
was decaying.

so, say his name.
say all of their names
and in your mouth, 
you’ll find a pain. 
of speaking truth to 
the power of fear:
that “difference is darkness, 
and shouldn’t come near”

more myths,
on the pile of lies,
when you know well behind your eyes,
that something sinister 
has been afoot since 
long before your time.

but still lives on.

terror run free,
strange fruit off the tree,
the hatred of a pigment:
my country, ‘tis of thee?
fearing color feeds
the myth of scarcity.

and to dehumanize another
is to hate liberty.

Photo of a man being threatened during 1921 Race Massacre In Tulsa, Oklahoma

Photo of a man being threatened during 1921 Race Massacre In Tulsa, Oklahoma