Autumn Colbert - A Poem For Trayvon Martin

Edited by Azizi Powell

A Poem For Trayvon Martin



Uploaded by ThePrettyyoungthing on Mar 21, 2012

"Dedicated to Trayvon Martin, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, Emmett Till and others like them...killed innocently."

-snip-

IT'S NOT OKAY: A POEM FOR TRAYVON
(Written by Autumn)*

There's no justice
For the mother that buries her son
Before his eighteenth birthday.
Tear stained cheeks
Hold lifeless body
Wondering how that day could have
gone differently.

Black mothers wonder how to protect
their sons from their own innocence,
Merely being themselves
Walking, Skittles and ice tea in tow.
"Suspicious" they say.
It is NOT okay.

From Trayvon Martin,
Emmitt Till to Oscar Grant,
Sean Bell killed just
Before his wedding day
No amount of time or reasoning
Can wipe that hate away.

Black skin becomes target practice
For those looking to sharpen
Their marksmen skills
Lifes are valued less than that of animals.
Society outcries dog fighting over
Fighting bullets.
Pinned to the ground yelling "Help!"
And everyone hears
But no one is there to stop it.

"Suspicious" they say
It is NOT okay.
To be let free the next day.
To be considered a hero in your community
for a vile display.

"Suspicious" they say?
It is not okay.
Our sons die by the minute
And we think justice has been won?
We have just begun
the fight for freedom and equality
For Trayvon, for Oscar, for Sean, for Emmitt
and the list goes on.

We must fight for justice
As if it were our own son
Till black blood isn't shed on concrete
Till Black boys aren't hunted like game
Till Black mothers have to no longer
bury our brothers
Till we rise and realize that we need each other
To fight till our lifes begin
To reflect the beauty
In which we see each other
Till our time here isn't spent fighting
For what we were given freely...Life -
Till we no longer have another night like tonight.
We must fight
For Trayvon
For Oscar
For Sean
For Emmitt
And for Rodney.

-written by Autumn Colbert; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOweqZvDVZA

Transcription by Azizi Powell

This dedication appeared in print at the end of the poem's recitation:
"Dedicated to Trayvon Martin and others who lost their lives due to racial profiling and hate.

May we keep fighting in the name of justice."

-snip-

*The poet (Autumn Colbert) resides in Baltimore, MD. You can follow her on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/autumncolbert or visit her reverbnation page at: http://www.reverbnation.com/autumnc.

I appreciate being able to share Ms. Colbert's powerful poem with others via this post.

RELATED LINKS
With the exception of Rodney [King], the poem refers to Black males who were slained because of racial profiling.

Here are links to information about the Black males mentioned in this poem:
Trayvon Martin http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/trayvon-martin-case-timeline-of-events/

**
Oscar Grant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BART_Police_shooting_of_Oscar_Grant

**
Emmit Till
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Till

**
Sean Bell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Bell_shooting_incident

**
Rodney King
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_King

****
My thanks to the Autumn for sharing her poem. I cosign her dedication - RIP Trayvon, Oscar, Sean, and Emmitt and all those who died because of racism.

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