- Talia Basma
George Floyd Protests Spread Nationwide Because...
(TW: police brutality) when you look at the numbers
when you see the news
does your blood not boil in anger,
at the consistent injustice?
walking down the street
is a death sentence.
killing an innocent black man
is rarely more than a measly
ten year sentence.
a black man’s life,
a black boy’s life,
ended more than 10 years early
–violently and disrespectfully–
are worth so little to the eyes
of another.
if a group of people came together
and killed more than a thousand people,
in a year’s time they’d be,
called a terrorist organization;
drape them in blue and give ‘em a gun,
now they are heroes and protectors
incapable of bias and poor judgment.
if kneeling at the flag is offensive
how can killing a man be forgiven?
if carrying a gun is allowed
how is having a wallet a crime?
a man with dark skin is at least
twice more likely to be killed.
and with the number of times
Amy Cooper is in the neighborhood
calling the cops for a man simply breathing
it's only statistics that the system kills us.
a child is not born scared of color
they look at everything with wonder
appreciating with kind eyes the world around them
but when the day is done and the news flashing
with tear gas and enraged riots
they look to the grown-ups
asking, am i gonna die?
white is the child who is told
a confident
no
