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By Luanda Yasmin

Illustration Credits: Rebecca Hope

It’s like
Pat on the back and a beer and a
Packet of crisps
“I wanna be commended for absolutely shit
And I am in a fit Luanda, because you are challenging it

I wanna tell you about
How many black friends my kids have
And how your mistreatment absolutely makes me so sad
But

I don’t wanna get uncomfortable
How dare you take a blow torch to my bullshit bubble
I wanna get the ally medal without putting the work in
And all this race stuff seems like an issue but it kind of feels like it’s your thing?”

See these are the excuses they’ll be using while abusing
Their position of socio-economic class
They start a fire but they
Never come back
Then dance on the ashes wonder why you turn your back

Community divided
And so I decided
Not to put my emotional well being below your entertainment
And though I’ll be chasing
A vision I have of the highest me
I know that it has to be
The fact that the universe wants me to learn more patience

See when I was talking you didn’t know what to do
Because I’m the first me you’ve met, but I’ve seen a million of you
And I chase the path down stream, it’s true
But I’ve had a fire started in me, why haven’t you?

If you agree that there’s a problem; Why don’t you go try and solve one
No one is asking for some super man shit
But bloody hell dude, do your fucking bit
You see the powers at hand. Why aren’t you challenging it?

Right then, another night when I’ve revealed too much about life over here
Cuz most of the time it feels like half of the job is keeping this shit from their ear

Don’t speak up, don’t bother them
Don’t wanna ruin their day with your oppression
Better keep it bottled up. Hope you learned your lesson.
Opening your mouth is detrimental to your profession

So if the way that I speak is connected to the way that I eat then
This is all just a game of goons
And if the way that I speak is connected to the way that I eat then
What will it cost me to speak my truth?
You want me to fall in line but I think that’s silly
If the way that I speak is connected to the way that I eat
Then how free is the speech, really?

The Author –

Luanda is an actress/ model and content creator from Birmingham. In her poetry she addresses her intersectional feminist values and the black experience.