For My Hood Folks Poem by nyna bankard

We come from a place of struggle and pain,
Morally discouraging but we learn to maintain.
Always on the grind to stay ahead of the game,
Socially misjudged but we're one in the same.

We yearn for the chance to be able to succeed.
We keep our hopes high in order to achieve.
Under the circumstances, we're still able to believe,
That we can overcome in this life that we lead.

I speak for us all, because I can relate.
I'll come with the facts in a statistical debate.
I've seen it, I've lived it, but it's not my fate.
It's time for change, we need to conflate.

I'm so tired of us being misunderstood
And being looked down on like we are no good.
We're hard working people and do as we should
Eccentrically compelling, that's what I call HOOD!