An Ode to Black Angels
A Poem Dedicated to All the Lives of Black People, Both Men and Women, That Have Been Lost. May They Rest in Power.
As a child
I thought that people only died of old age
I was unaware that time was not promised
Had no clue that a child could lose their life too
February 26 2012
I was laying next to my mother
As the news played in the background
Teen
Age 17
Fatally shot
I remember feeling confused
I wondered how this was possible
My 11 years of life didn’t prepare me for this reality
Where a trip to the store could end your life
Where being black means more likely to die tragically
I remember the tears in my eyes
And how they mentioned his hoodie as if it had any significance
I remember the tightness in my chest
As my mother and I took time to share unspoken words of sadness
Our shared grief for this stranger lingered in the air between us
Then she finally spoke
“It happens all the time”
This was not the response I was expecting
Not the response I wanted
I didn’t want to believe that what she was saying was true
She continued
“With skin like ours
People see us as a threat.
We are harassed, targeted,
And brutalized. That’s how
Things have always been”
She then began to tell me
About the countless times
That these situations have happened
She spoke of them all in a reverent tone
Between each recollection
She would pause
As if to keep me from being overwhelmed by this new knowledge
But there was no preventing it
On February 26 2012
I,
At 11,
Learned that the difference my blackness awarded me
Went beyond being ridiculed by the kids at school
I learned that it was a mark
I accepted that because of my skin
people may judge,
Harass, target, or brutalize me
But the one thing they cannot do
Is control me
Treyvon Martin taught me
That to be black is to fight in a never ending war daily
He showed me that if I was going to walk through this world
In my black skin
I need to do it proudly
I need to walk strong
I need to work hard
Because many people
Who look just like me
Can no longer do these thing
Because their life has already ended in tragedy
May they all Rest in Peace
About the Creator
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