hey, white people

hey, white people

yeah, I’m talking to me
you, too–those who

never had to worry
about being followed
stopped lynched
accused raped
beaten shot
gassed terrorized
or humiliated
because of our skin

who never had to
think twice
about a hoodie
making us a threat
who never had to say
I can’t breathe
don’t shoot
our lives matter

listen right now
don’t speak of
what he might
have done wrong
don’t make excuses
for why thy shot her
don’t explain that
cops are scared

remember what
Baldwin said
history isn’t the past
history is now
the city on a hill
a beacon of privilege
our manifest destiny
to take what we wanted

we have yet
to understand
four hundred years
of oppression is
what put a white
nationalist in the
white house holding
a bible like a weapon

it’s not the protests
that will destroy us
it’s those who use
power like a chokehold
it’s not the looting
in the streets
it’s the greed
in the boardrooms

let us make history
by making amends
repairs reparations
repentance reform
let the story that
has yet to be written
not be the same
chapter and verse

yeah, I’m talking to you
and to me.

Peace,
Milton