This is our work. We don’t post on the socials simply to educate. Don’t be offended if we turn down invitations to collaborate. What we want is for you to eradicate. Eradicate racism. This is our plea. Remember that when you try to breathe.
All rights reserved to contributing writers. EK Book Publishing Bridgeport, CT www.EKbookpublishing.com ekbookpublishing@gmail.com
Cover Photography & Graphic Design by Erika K. Stanley
Poetic Protest: We Can’t Breathe #Blacklivesmatter
This Is Our Work
Table of Contents 10
Inner City Mural 11 Still 12 The Burden of Justice 13 No Video 14 I Couldn’t Sleep 15 Race 17 #ICantBreathe - Black Lives Matter 19 If I Could Tell You, I’d Say 20 BLM 21 I Can’t Breathe 22 March for the Children
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Letter from the Editor In 2014, Mike Brown, an 18-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by a 28-year-old white police officer named Darren Wilson, the city of Ferguson, Missouri, ignited with protests and national news coverage. We drowned in dialogue by experts in politics and professors of sociology who analyzed the killing of Mike Brown, his past offenses, and everything outside of his actual humanity. Like many Black people, I found myself angered and sad. In fact, any time a Black person is murdered in this country - particularly by police officers - I am contending with the duality of human emotions and the way they take up space in our lives, our every day lives, and often how challenging it is to do simple things, like grocery shop, sit in professional settings, or watch the news without feeling the weight of being seen as Black while actually being Black. This complexity is not universal. This complexity is, however, global. I took my anger, sadness, and rage and created a digital poetic campaign called Poetic Protest. The call for submissions intended to elevate the voices of everyday people who needed to wrestle with their emotions creatively. The murder of George Floyd on March 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by police officer Derek Chauvin, who held his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, ignited protests in every state in the country. I felt the same anger and sadness I had 5 years ago when I grieved the death of Mike Brown. This time, the anger lingered, and shook something out of me I can’t quite name or seem to recover. While protesting, participating in hard conversations about racial equity in professional spaces, and challenging the racial ignorance of people in my social networks, I found that I needed to create another call of submissions for another Poetic Protest. I am so thankful to everyone who submitted a poem or reflection for this Poetic Protest. The title We Can’t Breathe is indicative of the suffocation of George Floyd and also the breathlessness we felt watching another innocent Black person die. Despite your breathlessness, though, your vulnerability and creativity is an example of how we can hold space for one another while articulating the challenges we face. Again, thank you for allowing me to read, edit, and compile your words into this ebook. For those we read these texts, I hope this inspires you and challenges you too. Sit with the discomfort and remember, as Emma Lazarus said, “Until we are all free, we are none of us free.’
In solidarity and unapologetic blackness, Erika Kimberly Stanley
This Is Our Work //Porsha D. Williams This is our work. We don’t post on the socials simply to educate. Don’t be offended if we turn down invitations to collaborate. What we want is for you to eradicate. Eradicate racism. This is our plea. Remember that when you try to breathe.
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Inner City Mural // Ellis K. Stanley, II What happens to a dream deferred, When the lines between now and in due timing are blurred? It’s absurd to be lining the curbs with liquor stores and see us pitching raw, Hustling a brick or more and thinking we would’ve done better. The slums better than slaves ships But we still enslaved to the grave-shift. Like night work No funds that might work No government assistance No governing resistance. You gonna need persistence to convert dreams But being poor will side track you more like a covert scheme. These brothers’ dream was simply to be alive past 25. Gunshots were their demise not many survive... What happens to a dream deferred, If it’s been maturating under massive hating since inception occurred? Will it concur with the hope it inferred? Because I’ve heard that the answer was resting in the question all along. When a dream gets deferred they’re wrong. It isn’t gone. See impossible is nothing. Can’t is merely bluffing. Mentally you shouldn’t dwell where you’re held, end of discussion. You want something the world can conspire to help you achieve it. Only Truth could hurt a liar, you gotta believe it. Good better best, Never let it rest until you good with getting better at being the best. Success is edged right in the clef of the proof, That you can’t seek external approval for internal truths.
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Still // Kirk A. Wesley Life can be suffocating The tense moments that’ll take your breath away When you let your mind stray You can say, not today. I can’t breathe with the knee of oppression on my neck I’m playing cards without a full deck and still winning. Still sinning. It’s been this way from the beginning. Black pride, I can’t lie but when I die, I’ll still survive.
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The Burden of Justice // Angela R. Hooks Lord, We want justice, We want fairness. “How long will you let this go on?” Poisoned justice; bloated corpse of righteousness. Killings keep going on and on We’re tired of looking in the mirror to make a change, in vain. The burden of justice reaps protest and pain, Living in white america continues to strain. “Lord, how long will you let this go on.”
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No Video // Jennifer Jones Out for a jog, hunted, left dead in the road they covered their crime, until a video rose, now the nation knows his name. Leaving a store, a fake twenty behind, did he even know? The chance to ask never came, he cried to his deceased mother, while living mothers cry to their sons... don’t look suspicious, don’t put the hood on your head, be careful how you walk… down the street, where he lay dead, and the video rose, now the world knows his name. How many more? With no video/No Justice? Say their names.
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I Couldn’t Sleep // Robert James I couldn’t sleep, Because you couldn’t breathe Weeping like a scene of Jesus the Nazarene Reliving every minute His spirit and Life ended, in 8:46 Trending, the internet Repeatedly seeing gruesome iniquities, in memory of Emmett Till We’ve been running across all paths Like Arbary’s dash Wearing masks In barrage of smoke, Rubber bullets and tear gas through the panic in the Atlantic coast we were stolen on boats Imagery is like a scene from our past History repeats like J Edgar Hoover and Donald J Trump Indigenous torture on holidays with government dope Suffocating our freedom With a knee to our throats I Believe in us believing in ghosts of the anointed Divulging in the ways of our Lord To lead us abroad and its the likes of you and I who inspire Einstein the insight and enterprise of the Garveyite mind our capacity is the tenacity of hope’s design 15
its what drove Moses to delight in Moses who freed American slaves in subways of Harriet’s train hilarity’s the greatest medicine where the mountains where shaved I We harness the pain plant our flag on the fields where the colonists plagued On our path to hills gaze in a delighted haze to the lands yonder and dream in vivid colors the dreams to see us prosper I couldn’t sleep, Because you couldn’t breathe Weeping like a scene of Jesus the Nazarene Reliving every minute His spirit and Life ended, in 8:46 Calling on his mother as Christ had called to our God Recalling, that it’s written we’re made in the image our God They fashioned on Streets that Black Lives Matter So When they gather police they’re standing on holy diaspora.
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Race // Samantha Higgins A trace of the justice that is owed to them regardless of their state. Them. The people with melanin that causes them to have darker skin, you think we’re scary imagine what we feel within. Skin. The outward covering that protects and reflects our soul, how does that lead to people becoming so cold? Cold. Cold to the fact that despite skin color we are all human, black people are not a threat stop with all that assuming! Assuming. Assuming our life is not as valuable as everybody else’s, we want nothing less/nothing more than just an end to these false pretenses. Pretenses. Pretenses that have led to our life being shortened, we can’t even do commonplace things without the plan for that day being unwillingly aborted. Come on America, we’ve got to do better
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#ICantBreathe - Black Lives Matter // Karen Heck My constant companion Deep, shallow A regular recurring movement Rhythm All I can say is ahhh A sudden whiff of sulfur Comes from the pulp mill In a tiny corner of Glynn County What is that smell Warm and thick The air gently lingers It’s a good day for a run To the sandy edge of Jekyll Island Nobody can catch me here Watching the waves playfully slap And tickle the shore I sigh with relief Knowing how happy I am The air balmy and breezy Wet sand on my feet Dampness is added to my journey I continue to take in love without saying I am thankful for your continued support I do remember you when I wear my bright Tie-dye yoga pants coordinating with An orange sherbet t-shirt Oh, I get to watch my breath Deep slow belly breaths Smiling with intensity until my cheek muscles Become tight with intensity Yes, I am meeting my breath Almost forgetting you are always with me My forever after In the micro-second my King walks towards me With his bright white toothy smile You alert me So, in vinyasa flow we are together Deep shallow Deep and shallow Repeat, stretch, relax Sacred thoughts of honesty Creative visualizations Intense snapshots in my imagination 18
I think of you, of us Whimpering in distress 911 is killing me Thank you I unwind and honor you When a gentle giant calmly calls “Mama� as a part of asking permission To take one more deep breath Instead the protector and server Denying his request Assassinating dreams, possibilities and hope I pant I puff I pray Crying for peace
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If I Could Tell You, I’d Say //Lorraine Danza When you were born, your Mama heard your cry. When you spoke, your Mama heard your words. When you grew, your Mama protected you. But on that day‌. When you were hurting, you cried for Mama, When you needed our help, your voice was silenced. When you were dying, No one protected you.
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BLM // Karen Wong You were made for hard labor... You went pretty far with a mediocre college degree... You need to train the recent college graduate for your job... You worked above and beyond successfully for 3 years but I can’t give you an increase... You were acting manager for 2 years but need to train the new manager... Move somewhere cheaper if you can’t afford rent but no increase... Is your daughter getting a job after high school? Why are you going to college? Most African Americans don’t... You have to work even though you have the measles... Wear a mask to work since you have Covid19...no work no pay... You can’t afford that house... You can’t afford that car... Do you have keys for the community pool? Your neighbor called the police because you were celebrating memorial day... The police must be here to see you... You have police activity every day... You were speeding at 55 mph in a 65 mph zone... Do you have additional travel documents for this child?
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I Can’t Breathe // Jenita Hayes I can’t breathe! ...am I on mute? I can’t breathe!! ...I MUST still be on mute I CAN’T BREATHE!!!!! ......................... now you hear me after countless breathes have been taken away #Blacklivesmatter
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March for the Children // Jocelyn “Jluv” Carter Justice for All. Peace for All. Love to All. Civil Rights for All. A honest and equal justice system, for all. But please... for the children’s sake, let them see how protesting together works, let them see how everybody’s voice is heard when everybody votes. Allow the children to see how everybody’s votes count. The children are America’s future, let’s leave them a better world.
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