BLACK LIVES MATTER
Poem
BLACK-ENCHAINED By Omar Almasri
ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF KITTY KAN
Black The color of excellence, inventiveness, eloquence and poise, heroism and valor, athleticism and intelligence, historic feats and immeasurable impact MLK, Ali, Shabazz, the OG Baldwin, Huey/Fred, Harriet, Sojourner, Rosa, Shirley, Angela/Assata, Stevie, Ray, Louis, Marvin, Prince, James, Tupac/Biggie, Aretha, Billie, Ella, Marian, Whitney, Lauryn, MJ-B, Beyonce Kareem, Satchel, Hank, Arthur, MJ-squared, Serena, Althea, Flo-Jo, Lisa, Debi, Simone, Jackies 42 and 88 Never enough They’re still: marginalized, crippled, sneered at, vilified, demonized, and criminalized by the system, the establishment, hierarchy designed and built to weigh them down, to make them feel less than, and force them to push, stand up, wrestle for parity and equal opportunity for their: basic rights, equality and dignity, liberation and emancipation, affirmation at the expense of their adolescence, adulthood, and life expectancy Breonna Taylor, Eric/a Garner, Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, George Floyd, Emmett Till lives taken and robbed, gunned down, strangled, and disfigured by the system, white-empowered and Black-enchained, that continues its ruthlessness and pitilessness unabated But the streets, from all corners and angles, continental or pocket-sized, never forget, relent, nor yield to change the tables, the imbalance, disproportion, discrimination, racism, and marginalization in the face of hails of bullets, tear gas, and beatdowns They’ve done it once, twice, thrice, countless and incalculable amount of times And they’ll do it again, hopefully for the final time ■
OMAR ALMASRI is a master’s student from Amman, Jordan, currently studying at Arkansas State University.
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