Black Lives Matter: A Light Shines Through Darkness (The Streets of Chicago in Poetry Form): urban,street,black beauty, love, romance, neglect, child abuse, racism,

Excerpt from A Light Shines Through Darkness.

Just forget it they said

And I tried
But I cried until I tasted blood
As I witnessed foreign ships
Sailing boldly in route to the motherland with plans to rob her of her greatest assets

Just let it go they said
And I tried
But still I find myself
Frantically reaching out
Clinging on to every last bit
Of my heritage, my history , my Africa
As the first enslaved brother must have.

But slavery didn't effect you they say
And I agreed
But I was wrong it seems
Because we are still in this boat together
Shackled side by side
Chained down by ignorance and self hate
In the sweltering heat of manic oppression
Forced fed materialism and instant gratification
Until we are good and full with vain conceit that we begin to relieve our bowels all over each other

They told me to suck it up the Jews had it worst
But I couldn't
Engulfed in wave after wave of lynchings, police brutality and the raping of our beautiful black diamonds
I could do nothing but choke on the injustice

Frantically but I failed
At the bottom of the sea of forgiveness
I witness millions if those who
Were casted over during the middle passage like a sailor tosses back a unwanted fish
A like girl no older than 7 each her hand to me
As a great circle formed
She pulled me down with a smile
And said come lets join hands as we pray
Pray for what I said perplexed
One prayer for our oppressor and what we have endured at their hands
And the second I asked
That we never forget
She said as she grasped my hand and looked forward

By Tommy Ross