Fallen Angels

By Zakiyyah Singletary

Discussed: racial violence

Thank you to the fire inside of me that finally lit and allowed me to speak my truth.

For 400 years you kept us enslaved 
raped us 
beat us 
tainted us
and killed us
yet somehow you are the ones that fear us
you see my skin color as a weapon
and shoot at every chance you get 
because even though we are unarmed 
we will always be viewed as armed with the melanin embedded in our skin
you stop every little brown boy with a hoodie on his head
racially profile every little brown girl with afros as big as your ego
you refuse to look within and see that you are the monsters 
you so desperately are trying to run away from
you created this social construct called race
to identify my blackness as darkness 
and your whiteness as pure
to you we are equal 
as long as we don’t commit a crime no matter how small 
then we become slaves of the state again
with the 13th amendment 
you have jail cells ready for little black boys as soon as they are suspended
they are 5x more likely to go to jail than white men
you’re sitting in albany collecting the money
waiting for them to become another statistic 
and I fear 
for all seven of my brothers’ lives 
and pray for all of my sisters 
that a picture of us will not end up under the next 
#black lives matter
a mother is living without her child
wondering if she hadn’t let them out 
would they be here 
a child is without a life
that barely ever began
now left to be six feet beneath 
this is for the victims who didn’t get the justice they deserved
thank you
Eric Garner 
Trayvon Martin
Tamir Rice
Michael Brown
Freddie Gray
Aiyana Stanley Jones
Terence Crutcher
Kimani Gray 
Philando Castile
Sandra Bland
we are beautiful
deserving of life
and we matter
so does your story
may you all rest in heaven
sincerely the girl
who will never stay quiet again

Performance