Black Lives Matter-A poem by Opemipo Obikanye

Hello everyone. My friend Ope wrote a wonderful poem about the Black Lives Matter movement so I thought I would share it with you here.

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B-L-A-C-K

The colour of my skin, my hair, and my eyes

The way God made me

Beautiful and full of melanin

Beautiful ebony glowing skin

Singled out amongst others, UNIQUE

Yet the uniqueness is only seen as one thing

C-R-I-M-I-N-A-L

Why? When will this stop?

When will the colour of my skin just be beautiful and not DANGEROUS?

When will I stop being afraid of driving in the day or walking at night?

When will I be considered equal and deserving of human rights?

When will I ever roam the streets and not look behind my back in fear of being murdered or arrested?

When will I pass by a crime scene and not be assumed as the committer of the crime, as the enemy?

Will I ever be stopped by the cops and not fear dying for nothing?

Will I EVER be FREE in a white community?

Will I ever feel human?

Will my future generations even come forth at this rate?

Will all the suffering ever pay off?

Will the HUSTLE ever stop?

Am I ever going to work at a well-deserved position after I have worked my ass off in school?

Am I ever going to be able to apply for high earning jobs without changing my name?

Am I ever going to be the truthful person in a time of conflict?

Is there a time where I will not be called a thief?

When will white privilege stop?

Will I ever truly be able to co-exist with white people and not fear being backstabbed?

Will my parents and friends ever truly see that my white friends can genuinely be FRIENDS?

My ancestors fought to stop this,

They tried their best to create a better, safer world for us

Were their efforts all in vain?

Did they SLAVE for nothing?

Am I SLAVING for nothing right now?

WILL THE VOICES OF MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS BE HEARS THIS TIME AROUND?

I really hope so, we will not STOP SCREAMING TILL WE ARE HEARD

WE WILL NOT STOP TILL WE ARE SEEN

WE WILL NOT STOP TILL WE ARE ONE

SKIN COLOUR SHOULD NOT BE A JUDGE OF CHARACTER

IT SHOULD JUST BE A SIGNIFICANCE OF CULTURAL BACKGROUND.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

ENOUGH INNOCENTS HAVE DIED DUE TO THEIR SKIN COLOUR

RACISM IS RECESSIVE, LET US PROGRESS

For the other races already supporting us

It is progress

If you see the posts and just stay silenced but say you are in support

We are still moving backwards

USE YOUR VOICES AND PLATFORMS WITH US

LET US STAND UNITED

YOU CAN NOT BE LUKEWARM

IT IS EITHER ANTI-RACISM OR PRO-RACISM

THERE IS NO IN-BETWEEN

I will say this repeatedly till something is done

Till I can see a difference, till I see CHANGE

BLACK LIVES MATTER AND WE WON’T BE QUIET TILL EVERYONE SEES IT.

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By @mipsy.o (Instagram account).