Black-Enchained

BLACK-ENCHAINED

ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF KITTY KAN

By Omar Almasri

Black e 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

ey’re still: marginalized, crippled, sneered at, vili ed, 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, a rmation 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 dis gured 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

ey’ve done it once, twice, thrice, countless and incalculable amount of times And they’ll do it again, hopefully for the nal time ■

OMAR ALMASRI is a master’s student om Amman, Jordan, currently studying at Arkansas State University.