While surfing YouTube, I came across a racist comment about Michael Brown's murder that portrayed the white citizens of Ferguson, MO, as innocent victims. The comment basically said that people are making a big fuss over nothing. As if the murder of an innocent man was nothing.
I hate people sometimes.
But...I have abilities that I can use to be an ally to people of color. I have white privilege, which means that in so many circles, I will be taken more seriously than a person of color would. My white privilege means that my grandparents and great-grandparents were granted access to high-quality education and high-paying jobs; that I was born into a wealthy family and live in a wealthy neighborhood, less than two miles away from one of the most rigorous and supportive public high schools in the state.
It isn't right or fair that I live the cushy life I do. I don't deserve this life. But I can use it to help change the world, and that is important. That is why I wrote this poem. It's called It's Not Just One Life.
It wasn't just one life. It was the life of Michael Brown, of Eric Garner, of Trayvon Martin, of every black boy who has been shot by police. It is the life of Tyra Hunter, the black woman who died of medical neglect in 1995. It is the life of every trans woman of color who has been murdered because society hates anyone who doesn't fit into its bullshit box called "normal" well guess what THERE IS NO NORMAL!
It is the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., assassinated because he dared to fight for his people's right to equality. It is the life of every black woman raped in slavery, of every man whipped, of every person devalued or killed because they weren't white. It is the life of every Cherokee who died on the Trail of Tears, every Chinese worker on the Continental Railroad forced to work under crappy conditions for low wages because WHITE PEOPLE decided they didn't deserve any better, it is the life of every child murdered in Central America because they weren't allowed a safer place to stay, every Rom killed in the Holocaust.
It is the life of everyone and anyone murdered because their identity didn't match up to what the kyriarchy felt it "should" be, as if white straight rich Christian cis enabled male is somehow the ideal. It's not the ideal. It's not normal, but because you fall into one or more of those categories, you have been allowed to say that it is the ideal. You have been allowed to pretend it was JUST ONE LIFE.
It is not just one life. It never has been. But maybe we can stop the body count increasing.
I hate people sometimes.
But...I have abilities that I can use to be an ally to people of color. I have white privilege, which means that in so many circles, I will be taken more seriously than a person of color would. My white privilege means that my grandparents and great-grandparents were granted access to high-quality education and high-paying jobs; that I was born into a wealthy family and live in a wealthy neighborhood, less than two miles away from one of the most rigorous and supportive public high schools in the state.
It isn't right or fair that I live the cushy life I do. I don't deserve this life. But I can use it to help change the world, and that is important. That is why I wrote this poem. It's called It's Not Just One Life.
It wasn't just one life. It was the life of Michael Brown, of Eric Garner, of Trayvon Martin, of every black boy who has been shot by police. It is the life of Tyra Hunter, the black woman who died of medical neglect in 1995. It is the life of every trans woman of color who has been murdered because society hates anyone who doesn't fit into its bullshit box called "normal" well guess what THERE IS NO NORMAL!
It is the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., assassinated because he dared to fight for his people's right to equality. It is the life of every black woman raped in slavery, of every man whipped, of every person devalued or killed because they weren't white. It is the life of every Cherokee who died on the Trail of Tears, every Chinese worker on the Continental Railroad forced to work under crappy conditions for low wages because WHITE PEOPLE decided they didn't deserve any better, it is the life of every child murdered in Central America because they weren't allowed a safer place to stay, every Rom killed in the Holocaust.
It is the life of everyone and anyone murdered because their identity didn't match up to what the kyriarchy felt it "should" be, as if white straight rich Christian cis enabled male is somehow the ideal. It's not the ideal. It's not normal, but because you fall into one or more of those categories, you have been allowed to say that it is the ideal. You have been allowed to pretend it was JUST ONE LIFE.
It is not just one life. It never has been. But maybe we can stop the body count increasing.
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