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Remember the groups that planned picnics to lynch,
burn,
sodomize,
and/or mutilate a life?
They now have conservative values:
they propose opportunity school districts
and privatize the prisons,
they propose anti-gay laws
and sport bumper stickers that claim pro-life.
I wonder…
Why is there never a good ol’ boy in the systems
that they call the good ol’ boy system?
I wonder…
Why do they expect me to believe the Governor can see a failing educational system,
when he turns a blind eye to a failing prison system?
I wonder…
Why are equal rights and justice so hard to obtain?
Why is it so hard to see that the DNC and the GOP are one in the same?
During election season, they all seem to know your name.
When it comes to seeing that justice is served,
their eyes are all blinded the same.
I wonder…
Why do the politicians all preach change?
Do they really want change?!
After election season, they continue to speak change;
but they don’t wanna see change.
They just wanna see change;
they just want a piece of change.
Some do it for the money and the power,
some do it for the fame.
They get a few titles behind their name
and they never act the same.
When egos begin to change,
those that are appointed to protect the best interest of the people
tend to forget about the best interest of the people.
I wonder…
How can one expect equal rights and justice,
when the proponents of justice are given free rein?
They cover up corruption
with subsequent remedial measures
and more corruption;
they’ll throw dirt on your name
until your left out in the rain.
All these laws on the books
and aint a damn thing change.
Obama did the best he could
but aint a damn thing change.
The prisons are still filled with Blacks and Latinos,
aint a damn thing change.
I wonder…
Why is it a rarity to see someone appointed to do the right thing
that actually does the right thing?
It’s getting hard to do the right thing;
it seems like doing wrong is the new right thing.
I just want to fast and pray to the east;
they just want me to fall prey to the right-wing.
Some days, I’d like to fly far away;
but I’m a poet not a pilot
and I’m rooted and grounded
so I guess I’ll write wings.
Brother Marvin sang about flying high through the friendly skies
without ever leaving the ground.
I wonder…
“Why are you surprised to see them blatantly stepping on toes?
Hell; they step over veterans asleep on the ground.”
They say, “Let’s Make America Great Again!”
For the life of me,
I can’t see the pictures they are painting:
Maybe, their propaganda is too colorful.
Maybe, my perspective is off;
maybe, I remember different hues.
Maybe, they didn’t stretch the truth;
maybe, they gallery wrapped the art of storytelling,
maybe, they want those that fall by the wayside to have better views.
I wonder… if the sharp symbolisms of hate
and the impressionisms of injustice
are the fabrics that they are speaking of,
when they say America was great.
I wonder…
Why do they feel so entitled in America?
They stole the land,
made fortunes off of those they stole from foreign land,
then they wrote laws to impose the perpetual divide in America.
They want me to pray to a merciful god
that shows no mercy,
while these so called political pundits walk imaginary lines of faith:
the so called “good Christians” wear hoods
and burn crosses neath the bible belt,
they kill children for whistling dixie neath the bible belt,
brown-skin children can’t even walk the streets with a pack of Skittles neath the bible belt.
I wonder…
Why do those that state they wanna keep America great
tend to tip the scales of justice
and misappropriate diplomacy?
I wonder…
Why do they consistently claim to not see the great divide in America?
I’m appalled at the newscasts in America.
It’s getting hard to tell the reruns from the world premieres in America.
I wonder…
How long must we see the same ol’ story in America?
I see church bombings,
I see bigotry,
I see brown-skin people being brutalized in America.
No! I’m not referring to the “Great History,”
I’m talking about modern day America.
Banksy illustrated:
“I SEE HUMANS
BUT NO HUMANITY”
I love street art!
Do you see the pictures they are painting?
Maybe, I’m too radiant… for America.
I tend to mix with the outliers in this world where white is right.
They wanna dim my light;
but they will never whitewash me.
Oh No! Not Me!
They try to blackball the coloreds like me, in America.
They will never bring me down…
Oh No! I will never let ’em bring me down.
No! They won’t bring me down.
They may try to keep a foot on my throat
but I’m standing on higher ground.
I’m standing on the shoulders of those who dared to say:
“I Too America!”
I vividly remember Langston Hughes;
I think of his views,
whenever I’m under attack by America.
I hold my head up high,
I look ’em in the eye;
cause I know
I too, sing, America.
I am the darker brother.
I am standing on the shoulders of those that got spat at in America.
I am standing on the shoulders of those that got hosed down in America.
I am standing on the shoulders of those that were attacked by German Shepherds in America.
I am standing on the shoulders of those that rescued slaves in America.
I am standing on the shoulders of those that fought and died so I could read a book in America.
I am standing on the shoulders of those that fought and died so I could cast a vote in America.
Yes, I am the darker bother.
I am standing on the shoulders of those brave souls that spoke up for equal rights and justice in America.
I am representing for the feeling that made sister Maya write:
“I rise
I rise
I rise”
when they tried to write her down.
I am representing for the feeling that made brother Langston write:
“I, too, am America”
when Jim Crow laws tried to keep him down.
Sometimes, I wonder…
Exactly, what is or what was so great about America?
–@StevieStreets #iWonder part two, the #sociology #poem | from THE BOOK OF QUESTIONS: I Wonder Too
