sydney conteh

It is said
The bigger the hair the closer to heaven you are
The longer the hair
The closer to your roots
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Shosholoza Shosholoza ku lazontaba
Stimela sipum'e South Africa
Wen uyabaaleka
Ku lezontaba
...

Am not patriotic enough
Are my scars not deep enough
Are my calluses not hard enough
Are my nightmares of guns and bloodshed
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My Malcolm says
I will fight
I will fight when you treat my skin like a garden to practice your racism
I will fight your racism with my black beauty
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On this day
Derek Chauvin got found guilty of, the murder of
George Floyd. Today another day the world sees black pain
This time we are not ignoring it
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Say their name as if it is hot coal in your mouth
Let their name burn your tongue and throat
Causing words that will flow like lava out of your mouth
maybe that why its called burning rage
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Let me reveal a secret.
Black people are experts at voice control.
We can suppress our voice in a whisper.
Knowing when we shout we can change the world.
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I die
I die
I died when my body became a mortar round
Exploding into fragments of my
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I saw a black girl cry
because she learned her skin
Is sign saying
'shot me'
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The first day of Derek Chauvin trial started
The man who killed George Floyd
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Hashtag justice for
Insert black name here
From
Country insert here
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A poet once said
"How it aches to pick ourselves, from a lineup every day"
To see parts of ourselves as criminal
To imprison the best part of ourselves
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Change happens by want or by need.
George Floyd changed by need.
Philando Castile changed by need.
In writing this I had to search all the black lives that have needed to die to cause change by need.
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Mama Africa my heart beats to the rhythm you set
Nene Africa, you are my home
Your fruits are my garden
I eat your fruits and absorb all the culture my body needs
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Sam Hose.
Black man.
killed because the colour of his skin was an execution notice.
People thought his nappy hair was a weapon of mass destruction.
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Hello black skin
People see you as a weapon
Rudy Francisco said
"A weapon will always be a weapon, what matters is how you fight the war"
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Meghan Markle and prince harry
Had an interview that shone a light
on how black skin is treated,
How being a minority is like being
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A British politician said
We need to stop the violence, suppression
Of language and culture
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What if black skin was a prison?
Anything can be a prison, depending on how you are looking at it.
A rainbow can be seen as a curved cage.
Or a bridge to a better world.
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In a flower bed of white.
Black flowers had the bravery to stand tall.
Most days I am that flower.
Somedays I try to chameleon myself into shades of white.
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