I Stand

Too often seen in terms of black or white

Religion, politics, and race

But I am living in the grey area

With a simple look at my face

Often mistaken for so many things

The color confusion my appearance brings.

Beauty should not be defined by color.

Yet the very divides by which we judge one another.

Too white for some, not black enough for the other

My bronze skin far from grey

Persecutions of the past, hidden

But still very much alive today

This beautiful amalgam of my heritage allowing me a rare perspective

Of one in the middle, too often neglected.

A mixture, a meeting, a fusion, a collaboration

Is something that we could stand in this nation

Constantly furthering the divide

Is no way to survive

I am not more of one half than I am the other

But all parties would have you pick a side

You can’t have the best of both worlds

Here in this, is where they lied

Our world is too diverse to confine within the rules of few

The outlook needs rebirth, become anew

Somewhere we lost sight to just be good to one another

Good humans in the shadows of accusations, brutality, and murder

To live and let live to those doing no harm

To set down stereotypes and our walls disarm

Making decisions for a side to be right

When our brothers and sisters are being lost to the night

I have felt the war within when my own cultures clashed

Lost in a sea, no clear navigation

Adrift in the chasm, those as so eager to wedge

Amidst it all found my own destination

I am no longer in the grey but the whole color spectrum

Shooting out of the cracks, an explosion of light

Gathering those like-minded, gaining momentum

Here to rattle the system, not to be polite

A new way of thinking is on the rise of being born

Where your notions of black and white, not the skin tone we’ll mourn

My race, my face

Though it might cause you confusion

Is the source of my power

And I’ll let you draw no conclusions

You might think black and white draws a line in the sand

But I’ve come from the grey

And for all colors, I STAND.