My People by Jalia Dews
For my people
Who were shackled
chained
Who were whipped and beaten
Whose backs were bent
Whose skin was branded
This is for my people
Who hated their skin
Who dreamed of being white
And feared their heritage
For my people
Who chose to stand
Who told the world enough is enough
Who broke the shackles and the bonds
Who lead the lost, the young, and the broken
Who led us from slavery to a place of peace
Who educated and nurtured us
Who chose to stand
Who told the world enough is enough
For my people who suffered the Jim Crow laws
Who trudged through the ashes of their dreams
Who looked for hope
And prayed to God
This is for my people
Who
like Martin Luther King
Stood up and announced
That he had a dream
Who used
peace as a sword
Education as a shield
Love for his armor
And faith as his steed
This is for my people
Who fought for equality all their days
Who paved the road to equal rights
So that we did not have to suffer this fight
So that we could read,write, and grow
This is for my people
Who stood up and announced we had a dream
For my people
Who think drugs are cool
Who think thug life is better than going to school
Who have broken the bones of their brothers and sisters
Who rot in jail
Who have broken the hearts of their mothers
destroyed the faith of their fathers
Who are steeped in a bittersweet, addictive power
Who are addicted to control
This is for my people
Who weep over miles of tombstones
Who are but wraiths of their former souls
Whose hope has been taken
Whose armor has been stripped away
Who have been beaten and battered
Who have given up
This is for the children
Who watched their parents fall
Who have waited for brothers and cousins who will never
come home
This is for the children
Whose tears are never seen
Whose lives can be deleted in a blink of an eye
Who have reached out with hope
Only to be stung
Who have stood on a corner
And been abandoned
This is for the children
Who have been beaten and battered
Who grow up and dream of a place where they are safe and
protected
Who put their heart and soul in the hands of another
person
Who plant seeds of hope
Who are found in ditches with their throats cut
Who go to sleep and never wake up
This is for the children
Who now live in heaven
For my people
Who have ambition
Who dream of college
Who are held back
This is for my people
Who are judged because of their skin
Who gave up one day and took their own lives
For the people who weep over the dead, rotten bodies of
their loved ones
Who struggle to move one
Who rue the day
For my people
Who said I was useless
Who said I was spoiled
Who told me I’d never be anything because I was black
Who made fun of my hair
And mocked the way I talked
Whose words shattered my dreams into a thousand pieces
This is for my people
Who encouraged me to read
Who disciplined and refined me
Who stood up to my teachers and told them they were
wrong
Who rebuilt and structured my dreams
Who painted them on a never ending canvas
Whose love is my shield
My armor and guard
This is for my people
The single mother raising her children all alone
The father who’s there to watch and help his child grow
The children who want to grow up and be
doctors,cooks,nurses, and firemen
For my people
Who never lost hope
Who build the future
Who encourage us to grow
Whose lives were spent reaching equal rights
Who dream of college
Who plant seeds of hope
This is for my people
Who will never cease to grow
#legacy #vision #poet #2015
