By Nathaniel E. Hocker on November 05, 2020
WHO
Who are the policymakers that will take our lives seriously?
Who is there to assist when even the weight of their world is forced on us to bear?
Who is the best version of us that they will acknowledge?
Who is there to help when we are suffocating?
WHAT
What is left to take when we have nothing to lose?
What is left to gain when there is nothing to show in the country we built?
What is justice when we are born guilty?
What area of the park are we allowed to bar-b-cue?
WHEN
When will the space be available for us to move in?
When is it our turn to steer the ship toward safety?
When our names are called, will our skin color determine reception?
When the coffee shop opens, can we sit inside peacefully?
WHERE
Where are the masses who claim to be our allies?
Where is the reality that includes our heritage?
Where is the guarantee of any future for our children?
Where is the sidewalk located that we can run on safely?
WHY
Why are the cries louder on our side of the tracks?
Why are the spaces always greener where we aren’t allowed?
Why is our worth always marketed, yet unfit for human value?
Why is our water not good enough to be sold on the corner?
HOW
How can it be that the systems in place continue to incarcerate us?
How do our lives matter beyond the months of February and June?
How could wealth ever be attainable when we aren’t allowed to flourish?
How is it that I could breathe yesterday, but not today . . .
