Mr. Africa Poetry Lounge!

Who are you to judge me?


Why do you think that because my hair is straighter
than yours and my skin is lighter than yours,
that you are more ethnic than me?


Who are you to spread rumors that I slept my way to the top
and didn't work for it? Why? Is it that I am attractive so
it's easier for people to believe?


What makes you think that because my car is expensive
and my clothes are made by designers, that I don't know suffering,
that I don't know what it means to be destitute?


Do you hate me because I chose to go to college and
you settled for whatever came to you? Do you hate me 'cuz
I speak my mind and you are afraid to wake up and see the truth?


If truth be known, I have paid the price many years before.
There was a time when my car was repossessed and
my home was on the brink of foreclosure…yes it wuz.


But I rose from those days and took charge of my life…for me, yes…just b'cuz
I am as ethnic as you are; I work for everything I have. So stop spreading those
rumors 'cuz you don't know me, you don't know who I am.


You don't know from whence I came,
What unfortunate events I overcame? Instead take notes.
Get your life together and try to make a stand… for you and what you believe in.


Get some pride and stop feeling sorry for your self and stop hatin' on me.
Make the change you want to see and start loving you…things it'll change, you'll
see. It takes a little love for you… by you 'cuz if you don't love you, no one else will.

Written by BJ Binning

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Mr. Africa Poetry Lounge