It’s a struggle to be black.
2015, at war. Just yesterday we was talkin’ ‘bout blacks an’ whites.
It’s a struggle to be black.
Having to wake up every morning worryin’ about what’s gonna happen. Having to be a color and get picked on about it. Having to speak your mind and worryin’ about who’s gonna care or not. Scared to walk outside ‘cause you think you gonna get shot or arrested.
It’s a struggle to be black, and white people don’t understand, we struggle with our skin color.
It’s a struggle to be black.
If a white person was to shoot at us and we shoot back, we get the tickets, we get in trouble, and we get the sentence. The police is at it again and they’re killin’ the innocents.
It’s a struggle to be black.
In the United States of America, blacks are the top rank you hear about every day. We are tryin’ to make peace, we get nothing. We’re doin’ all this negative stuff, you see us on the news, Facebook, and all this other stuff.
It’s a struggle to be black.
Having to go to a all-white school and have to sit in class and talk about back in the days when we were slaves. How the white people look at you.
It’s a struggle to be black, but how we gonna change if we don’t try? It’s like we always feel like a target. I know it’s my skin color, what do you call it?
It’s a struggle to be black. It makes me feel uncomfortable.
It’s a struggle to be black. We scream for justice and we get nothing. I need answers. Every day we struggle, cry, and beg for forgiveness and ax God “why us?” but we still are left with no answer. We beg for our freedom. And what people don’t understand is the police is nothing without that badge and that gun. They are no different from us, and we are at it again and again. We beg for justice and still get nothing. They bleed like we bleed, so why in the world do they think they’re better than us? Bodies drop but we don’ know why.
It’s a struggle to be black.
Having to walk down the street and getting called names. Nigga this, nigga that, thug this, thug that. But we still get no answers. Why every chance they get they kill us when they feel uncomfortable? In The United States of America, we need answers of why it is a struggle to be black. In 2015, white and black are at it again, but why? Why is it a struggle to be black? It’s like a black on black crime, but only blacks understand how it feel to be treated like that.
It’s a struggle to be black.
August 28, 1963. Many people joined the MLK speech. “I have a dream, that one day the nation will rise up and live out to its true meaning of its creed, statements, and beliefs. We hold the truths as self-evident – that people are all created the same.”
It’s a struggle to be black.
Killin’ blacks aren’t the answer. Establish fact before propaganda. These regular people have regular lives. Badges should come with a body camera. Why every chance they get they feel the need to feel us when they feel uncomfortable? This is some bullshit, and it’s dysfunctional.
Why do we feel like a target? I know it’s my skin color, what would you call it?
It’s a struggle to be black. Only blacks understand.
- On display at Central Library through January 2016.