My fear is fuelled by the media I watch
By the constant articles I see
BLACK. BLACK. BLACK.
DEAD. DEAD. DEAD
Another hashtag, another name
In that country we are murdered
In this country we are shamed
My life matters
‘But so does everyone else’s’
‘It’s in the past. It’s history.’
But it’s my history and my present
How scared do I have to be?
Should I start to cower?
Wear a shirt that says ‘I’m not harmful’
Bleach my skin so I don’t have to hide
‘You sound so white!’
Because I HAVE to
Because white is synonymous to intelligence
White is socially acceptable
I have to deny my own identity
Because society denies me rights if I don’t
I was never taught to fear the police
Only conditioned to never trust
Never trust the people who should protect
Because their next target won’t be the rapist, the paedophile, the murderer
Their next target will be the black person who was looking too black
It will be the Aboriginal man who was turned away by every shelter
It will be the Sudanese boy who stood too close to other Sudanese boys
‘They look like a gang!’ She screamed
‘I’m scared of them!’ He cried
It will be the black girl who’s told she should straighten her hair
The black person who’s told to change their name
Why is it Twitter who stands up for me?
Why is it politicians who betray me?
Why is it police officers who murder me?
Why is it no one who understands me?