Dear America, | Teen Ink

Dear America,

March 22, 2015
By OurVoices PLATINUM, Merrimac, Massachusetts
OurVoices PLATINUM, Merrimac, Massachusetts
31 articles 0 photos 34 comments

Favorite Quote:
"It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are" - e.e. cummings


Land of the free

Home of the brave 

Superpower.

This is what I hear

slide from the mouths

of teachers, parents, patriots.

 

But it is not what i feel

when i hear ignorance shouting,

"F**!"

into the ears of somebody

who was born a little different.

 

It is not what i feel

when on a college tour

I am handed a rape whistle

and told "the best thing is,

you can blow it and keep running".

 

It is not what I feel 

when i hear a gunshot,

and know that a bullet

is just another part of the

black man's anatomy. 

 

It is not what I feel

when it is 2015

and love is illegal.

 

When it is 2015

and I will only make

seventy seven cents

to a man's dollar.

 

When it is 2015 

and being black

is still a crime. 

 

Dear America, 

You're not free.

You're not brave.
You're just broken.


The author's comments:

Step up, speak out, and fight inequality. 


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This article has 1 comment.


on Aug. 5 2015 at 11:17 pm
LegendInTheMaking GOLD, Oswego,
12 articles 0 photos 10 comments
This is absolutely EXCEPTIONAL! I really felt your emotion behind it, and you are absolutely right about every point you made.