I am skin.

Yes, the thing that your entire body is covered in.

I am the first thing you see,

But also the reason most people do not agree.

The color on me has roots deeper than they appear,

Roots so deep to others it's unclear.

As my color gets darker so does my past,

And because of this I am seen as an outcast.

I have been bondaged and beaten to the point of breaking,

Until the bones under me could not stop aching.

As a child I was stripped from my home,

To a new land where I am never alone.

On a boat packed like sardines,

Off to a place to be worked like machines.

Out on the fields to pick cotton all day,

With no other choice but to listen and obey.

Harriet Tubman gave us hope to get away,

With the life we lived we knew we had to pray.

When things seemed to get better and the chains were broken

The oppression was present but still unspoken.

Many disagreed and took things into their own hands,

Which resulted in groups also known as klans.

As these klans disappeared, another offender arose.

They take pride in protecting but I have exposed,

That their true intent comes from my sister as well.

The same sister that beat me so I would not rebel.

They see themselves as “blue” while covered in red,

But the black lives matter movement will never be fed.

I am supposed to be your first line of defense,

But I am the thing that makes most people tense.

I am full of melanin

Because I am DARK skin.