Black is Threat

I wonder if black mothers knew when they gave birth

They were giving life to the most lethal weapon in America

That threat was embedded into their child’s smooth brown skin from the womb

That they weren’t just pushing out a baby but also the forever assumption of a gun being clutched in their hands

That they are so dangerous even when they're running away

They still pose a threat

That gifting them with their ancestors' roots of melanin

Meant branding them with guilty

Giving them a death sentence

That they will be seen as so rabid that they will have to be put down like dogs

And it will take an array of bullets to do the job

White people-

They say they're scared of us

My black skin

Puts them on edge

Forcing their trigger finger shake and squeeze a little faster

But what's funny is that I don't ever remember learning in school about black people slaughtering entire races

Native Americans were murdered and forced from their homes before they turned to us

Who paved the Trail of Tears?

Building their lands on top of bones and broken souls

We are standing on a glamorized Cemetary

Who were the slave masters?

Auctioning off human beings like property

Ripping screaming children from their parent’s arms

Who raped black women for their milk and honey?

Who beat a 14-year-old boy until he was unrecognizable to his mother?

Who formed a hate group haunting the night like ghost

lynching black men, hanging their bodies from trees

Watching them sway with awe like they were wind chimes

Who was the holder of the gun in a church shooting?

Who kills unarmed teenagers?

If anyone should be afraid it's us

Because of what they can do to us and get away with

This is why we do not stand for the anthem

Because this can not be the land of the free if the people whose ancestors sweat, blood, tears, and lashed backs that went into building this country are still oppressed

The red, white, and blue bruises that decorated our bodies is where the flag's colors came from

We do not stand for the pledge

Because there is not liberty and justice for all

If we still have to beg for justice to be served for our children through hashtags

We will not stand for this country

Until this country stands up for us

Until police actually protect and serve and stop trying to recreate a second red sea with our blood filling the streets

Until Jim Crow actually leaves the nest

and his inky black feathers are no longer wrapped around our court systems

Until the constitutional right to Life includes us

Until our children’s bedtime stories are no longer eulogies

They should not see obituaries more than picture books

Until our black skin is no longer a threat

We will not be silent

Our murders will not be forgotten and overlooked

There are only so many funerals a people can take

Black Mothers, you are not giving birth to a weapon

You are giving life to power

And our power is what they are scared of.