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"For My People"

Featured Poetry
"Where I'm From"
"Raised By"
"Age"

For My Black Girls

4/25/2020

1 Comment

 
Picture
By: Foluwasewa Sonubi, 8th Grade

​For my black girls,

Who take hours to do their natural hair,
Being judged and teased and beat and bled,
Just because of melanin,
Using creams and powders to 
Murder their natural skin.
        
For my black girls who perm and relax, 
And bleach and stretch and blow dry and
Texturize just because their hair is,
Unkempt, Unprofessional, too kinky,
Too coarse, too dry, too...me?

For my black girls who are told 
They are too loud, too ghetto, always angry,
Always disrespectful, never smart,
Never beautiful, never happy, never strong,
Not...white?

For my black girls who are very much smart,
We create fine art, Very much beautiful, 
Very much strong, Very much happy,
Very much creative.

For my black girls embracing their curls,
Conquering the world and speaking the truth, 
In the studio booth.
 
For all my black girls,
Who are congresswomen,
Who are mothers,
Who are entrepreneurs,
Who are astronauts,
Who flaunt their melanin.

They say "melanin pop,”
Because we will never stop, 
Won’t ever make us drop. 

Let us no more be just black girls,
Just ghetto girls, just loud girls,
Just dumb girls, let us be,
Strong black women,
Beautiful black women, 
Intellectual black women,
Confident black WOMEN
​

We are black girls!

1 Comment

Depression

4/25/2020

1 Comment

 
Picture
By: Shaydin Lambert, 8th Grade

For my people everywhere,
Crying themselves to sleep,
Crying their pain away,
Drinking their pain away,
Smoking their pain away.

For my people everywhere,
Too afraid to let it out,
Too afraid to let anyone know,
Too prideful to seek help.

For my people everywhere,
Always working hard,
Always being polite,
Praying,
Holding onto their little faith,
Screaming ¨Why is this happening to me?
Why me?¨

For my people everywhere,
Who wear the mask, 
And shoulder the weight of the world, 
Acting polite, 
¨I´m fine thanks!¨
Secretly hoping,
Someone would see,
Someone would care enough to notice.

The time has come to break through,
To find your own special way through the darkness,
To allow the light to shine through, 
To speak up, because you have a special voice,
You have gifts,
That no one can ever take.

1 Comment

For All My Black People

4/25/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
By: Derrick N., 8th Grade

​For all my Black People,

Whose lives got taken for nothing,
For those who were gun downed, 
For those who still face racism.

For those who still face discrimination,
Because of their skin color,
Others doing time for actions they didn’t commit,
Blacks who try to get there life together but can’t because of their past.

People like Martin, Rice, Brown, Sterling, and Garner,
Whose souls got snatched, lives got taken away,
It’s too bad that they couldn’t stay,
Others in tears asking God, "Why?"

Blacks who are living in poverty, can’t find jobs,
Maybe because of their skin color we continue to cry.

Blacks who continued to be labeled in disrespectful ways,
Always being criticized and never being Praised,
For those of all skin colors trying their best to stand up for Gun violence,
We will Fight to make sure that BLACK Lives Matter

0 Comments

For My People Who Think Too Much

4/25/2020

9 Comments

 
Picture
By: Duane Edwards, 8th Grade

​For my people who stress over a future
That isn’t even here,

Losing rest because
You think about it with fear.

For my people who suffer
With anxiety for the smallest things,

Then worry about the problems,
That your future may or may not bring.


For my people who work to the point,
That they just get sick, 

Then when the work isn’t their best,
They lose even more rest.

For my people who face a challenge,
And want to give up,

Then see how far they have come
And pick themselves back up.


For my people who realize
That their future is their choice,

Then when they overcome obstacles,
Academic -- etc. -- they begin to rejoice,

For my people who finally learn
To get out of their head,

Then take on challenges,
They always used to dread.


For my people
Who feel stressed out,

Use it as motivation
To do your best.

For my people
Who stress about your future life,

Don't worry -- you can set yourself up for a future
That is bright.

9 Comments

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  • Home
  • Poetry
  • Black Lives Matter
  • COVID-19
  • Essays
  • Short Stories
  • Illustrations
  • HOW TO SUBMIT