Monday, August 8, 2016

Monday's Poetry: Untitled Tribute to Black Lives Matter

by Pa Rock
Poetry Appreciator


Black actor Taye Diggs recently let his outrage over police shootings of unarmed black men lead him to express his feelings in a poem.  The piece, told from the perspective of a black child reacting to his parents concern over shootings of unarmed blacks by police, was published on Mr. Diggs' Instagram account in a free verse format under a blank black square.  It was untitled.

The reason "black lives matter" to the point that the phrase has become synonymous with a contemporary civil rights movement, is that for so very long black lives did not matter.  White Americans stood silently by - and some even joined in - as blacks became targets of lynchings after the Civil War.  Lynchings were an almost routine form of street justice in America for nearly a century.  After that practice and mob rule were curtailed with the Civil Rights movement and legislation of the 1960's, the focus of street justice shifted to a more subtle, though just a deadly, source - the death and injury of black individuals, particularly young black men, at the hands of those sworn to protect us all - America's law enforcement.  Unnecessary police brutality, as with lynchings, promoted the idea that black lives actually did not matter.

And a movement was born in the blood of discrimination and sanctioned violence.

Some responded,with strong indignation, saying  that all lives matter, but many of those voices had been strangely silent during the century when black individuals were suffering quick and deadly vengeance at the hands of white mobs.   Certainly all lives matter now, just as they did then - but then there was a systemic disregard of black lives.  Now, by focusing a strong, positive light on black lives, the hope is that the attitudes that allowed lynchings and police brutality can be changed - and society can be made better and stronger.

Black lives really do matter.  Children, such as the boy in Digg's poem, should not have to live in the fear that they could be killed solely because of the color of their skin. 


Untitled
by Taye Diggs

--> I'm finished brushing my teeth
I’m coming down the stairs
I’m ready for my bedtime story
Does anybody care

I’m standing in my P. J.s
My bunny slippers on
But Ma and Pa are watching tv
I think something’s wrong

Why is mommy crying Pa
She’s pointing at the screen
It’s like she knows them people
People I never seen

And why does daddy look so mad
Mommy do you know
He keeps on rubbing the side of his head
And walking to and fro

What is this tv show

And now I start to feel real weird
My insides getting heavy
I yell at mommy one more time
Daddy Are you forgetting

Mama slowly turns to me
Her face fighting the tear
She cut the tv off right quick
She kneels and pulls me near
Why is daddy leaving the room
Why did he slam the door
Mommy searches for her words
In the matted carpeted floor

Honey something very bad happened
We didn’t want you to see
But we just saw a man get shot
Right on our colored tv

Why would someone shoot that man
You both said guns were not good
Did the man steal or rob someone
Was he not doing what he should

Then I feel my mama’s anger
The straight stiff of her back
No she hissed through her teeth
Police shot him cuz he was black

I tilt my head with question
As Daddy enters still blue
But my skins dark just like the Man’s
Does that mean I’ll die too?

Ma and pa stare at each other
Blank scared looks on the front of their heads
Neither of them could say a word
As I imagine myself……. Dead. 


Im finished brushing my teeth
I’m coming down the stairs
I’m ready for my bedtime story
Does anybody care
——————————————
I’m standing in my P. J.s
My bunny slippers on
But Ma and Pa are watching tv
I think something’s wrong
——————————————-
Why is mommy crying Pa
She’s pointing at the screen
It’s like she knows them people
People I never seen
——————————————–
And why does daddy look so mad
Mommy do you know
He keeps on rubbing the side of his head
And walking to and fro
——————————————-
What is this tv show
—————————————–
And now I start to feel real weird
My insides getting heavy
I yell at mommy one more time
Daddy Are you forgetting
—————————————-
Mama slowly turns to me
Her face fighting the tear
She cut the tv off right quick
She kneels and pulls me near
Why is daddy leaving the room
Why did he slam the door
Mommy searches for her words
In the matted carpeted floor
—————————————-
Honey something very bad happened
We didn’t want you to see
But we just saw a man get shot
Right on our colored tv
————————————-
Why would someone shoot that man
You both said guns were not good
Did the man steal or rob someone
Was he not doing what he should
—————————————
Then I feel my mama’s anger
The straight stiff of her back
No she hissed through her teeth
Police shot him cuz he was black
—————————————-
I tilt my head with question
As Daddy enters still blue
But my skins dark just like the Man’s
Does that mean I’ll die too?
—————————————–
Ma and pa stare at each other
Blank scared looks on the front of their heads
Neither of them could say a word
As I imagine myself……. Dead.

Source: Taye Diggs Writes Powerful Poem for Black Lives Matter | Black Lives Matter, Taye Diggs : Just Jared | http://www.justjared.com/2016/07/30/taye-diggs-writes-powerful-poem-for-black-lives-matter/?trackback=tsmclip

Visit:Just Jared | Twitter | Facebook

Im finished brushing my teeth
I’m coming down the stairs
I’m ready for my bedtime story
Does anybody care
——————————————
I’m standing in my P. J.s
My bunny slippers on
But Ma and Pa are watching tv
I think something’s wrong
——————————————-
Why is mommy crying Pa
She’s pointing at the screen
It’s like she knows them people
People I never seen
——————————————–
And why does daddy look so mad
Mommy do you know
He keeps on rubbing the side of his head
And walking to and fro
——————————————-
What is this tv show
—————————————–
And now I start to feel real weird
My insides getting heavy
I yell at mommy one more time
Daddy Are you forgetting
—————————————-
Mama slowly turns to me
Her face fighting the tear
She cut the tv off right quick
She kneels and pulls me near
Why is daddy leaving the room
Why did he slam the door
Mommy searches for her words
In the matted carpeted floor
—————————————-
Honey something very bad happened
We didn’t want you to see
But we just saw a man get shot
Right on our colored tv
————————————-
Why would someone shoot that man
You both said guns were not good
Did the man steal or rob someone
Was he not doing what he should
—————————————
Then I feel my mama’s anger
The straight stiff of her back
No she hissed through her teeth
Police shot him cuz he was black
—————————————-
I tilt my head with question
As Daddy enters still blue
But my skins dark just like the Man’s
Does that mean I’ll die too?
—————————————–
Ma and pa stare at each other
Blank scared looks on the front of their heads
Neither of them could say a word
As I imagine myself……. Dead.

Source: Taye Diggs Writes Powerful Poem for Black Lives Matter | Black Lives Matter, Taye Diggs : Just Jared | http://www.justjared.com/2016/07/30/taye-diggs-writes-powerful-poem-for-black-lives-matter/?trackback=tsmclip

Visit:Just Jared | Twitter | Facebook


Im finished brushing my teeth
I’m coming down the stairs
I’m ready for my bedtime story
Does anybody care
——————————————
I’m standing in my P. J.s
My bunny slippers on
But Ma and Pa are watching tv
I think something’s wrong
——————————————-
Why is mommy crying Pa
She’s pointing at the screen
It’s like she knows them people
People I never seen
——————————————–
And why does daddy look so mad
Mommy do you know
He keeps on rubbing the side of his head
And walking to and fro
——————————————-
What is this tv show
—————————————–
And now I start to feel real weird
My insides getting heavy
I yell at mommy one more time
Daddy Are you forgetting
—————————————-
Mama slowly turns to me
Her face fighting the tear
She cut the tv off right quick
She kneels and pulls me near
Why is daddy leaving the room
Why did he slam the door
Mommy searches for her words
In the matted carpeted floor
—————————————-
Honey something very bad happened
We didn’t want you to see
But we just saw a man get shot
Right on our colored tv
————————————-
Why would someone shoot that man
You both said guns were not good
Did the man steal or rob someone
Was he not doing what he should
—————————————
Then I feel my mama’s anger
The straight stiff of her back
No she hissed through her teeth
Police shot him cuz he was black
—————————————-
I tilt my head with question
As Daddy enters still blue
But my skins dark just like the Man’s
Does that mean I’ll die too?
—————————————–
Ma and pa stare at each other
Blank scared looks on the front of their heads
Neither of them could say a word
As I imagine myself……. Dead.

Source: Taye Diggs Writes Powerful Poem for Black Lives Matter | Black Lives Matter, Taye Diggs : Just Jared | http://www.justjared.com/2016/07/30/taye-diggs-writes-powerful-poem-for-black-lives-matter/?trackback=tsmclip

Visit:Just Jared | Twitter | Facebook

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