If I Wasn’t Brown

In solidarity with #BLACKLIVESMATTER

If I wasn't brown —

Would life have been easier?

Would my dreams have been closer?

Would the streets have been safer?

Would I have been judged on my merit

And not on my brown skin?

Would my son walk without fear?

My pigment is skin deep but their hatred is deeper,

If I wasn’t brown —

Perhaps oxygen would have been cheaper.

Perhaps death wouldn’t always have to be murder.

If I wasn’t brown perhaps I would matter.

I wrote this poem in solidarity with #blacklivesmatter and in the wake of the horrendous murder of George Floyd. My heart is perpetually shattered by the frequency of these heinous crimes against humanity. You don’t have to be black or even a person of color to support a movement that in its core is about something as simple as human rights. Black people have gone through an enormous amount of suffering and we as a society owe a great debt to them. I pray for love, light, and peace. I hope the world will change for the better and racism will be a distant memory but since we as developed countries are still fighting back against such a backward mindset, it may be just a dream.