Black Enough

Since about the age of 5

When rice crispies covered in koolaid made smile

And  clouds made bunnies and jets in the sky

You told me that I wasn’t black enough

You told me that my grades in English class

And on sol tests were not good enough

You told me that being smart is trash

And that you should do like all the other boys

Did and want to, wish for, and hope to play a sport

You said that my pants weren’t dangling

Low like mandingos tip, sag lower , sag lower you said

Even though that breeze that snuck up the creak of my cheeks

Never did feel quite right to me

You said that this music is what makes you

You have to talk with a swang, and walk like you’re the thang

And make sure that your hardcore all the fucking time

And I tried, but you never quite believed me

Said that I was uppity and white

An oreo and not the good kind that is in a Dairy Queen blizzard

It hurt me, like a knife through my culture

Right through to my race that I kept in my heart

The unmistakeable feeling of eyes on me

In electronic shops and Korean clothing stores

The look that teachers gave me the first day of class

When I plopped down swagfull in the middle of the class

That slowly disappeared as I raised my hand

Over and over again, slaying questions

Like Lancelot and dragons

The first choice in PE when football season came around

Little did they know that I sucked

It hurt and hurt and scarred and scarred

Until I left

Leaving the catacombs of high school and adventuring

Into the field of college

Where I learned abolitionist rhymes

And King descendent cultures

Where a black president was possible

And white people weren’t as different as I was

And black people weren’t as different as I felt

Where judgment by the color of one’s skin

In a different culture is different

That we could as easily be accepted or rejected

By our accent than the color of our skin

That you are less black for not knowing

That there is an exit to cultural structure

That we are only hear through our minds

That the physical is a restraint that can be surpassed

Where being black meant nothing more

Than being me