HANDS UP, they say

Get on the ground

You never question what they tell you to do

You might get shot, beaten, raped

Can I see your ID?

It’s never a question

Black boys, Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice

Sisters, stand with your brothers

Brothers, stand with your sisters

Let them know you are powerful

But don’t get shot

I lead

I tell the crowd, HANDS UP, DON’T SHOOT

They chant it back

We march, and march, and march, just like Dr. King

We look up to people

We will NOT sit in the back of the bus

We run for president like Shirley Chisholm, we launch ourselves into space like Mae Jemison,  and we tell the story of our people like Maya Angelou

But is it enough?

We fight everything coming at us

Our people will NOT be denied!

We are STRONG

We are POWERFUL

And we are BEAUTIFUL

But most of all?

WE ARE BLACK!