Every morning during my third period, I hear that familiar voice on the intercom…
My eyes find that same flag, red, white, and blue, hand on my heart as I stand in wait…
She speaks with ease as she says those same indistinguishable words, words that have been ingrained into our brains since elementary
And it goes a little something like this:
“I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the United States of America. And to the republic, for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty, and justice… and justice…”
Can I…can I say for all?
Can I say that justice is for all?
Can I look past the compelling fact that my life is seen as less than what it really means?
Can I look past the fact that my skin, my worth is just another factor, another statistic on a screen
You wrap yourselves in armor, black and blue, and say this nation is what you protect, but instead, you protect the world from a “threat” that bleeds the same flesh
Pretend that you care for my safety, you care for my life, you care for me as my people bleed in the streets
As my people are on their knees pleading for you to stop, take away the bat, begging to stop beating them until blue is mixed with their black
Until you can’t tell which is the officer and which is the man accused
You hide behind a flag of stars and stripes, covering like your privilege can’t be seen through the lines you call equality
Covering like you can’t see the chains shackled on our hands and feet as we testify against a system that aint built for us
A system meant to hold us, torture us into submission, to suppress us until you got us under your knee begging please, I can't breathe.
We march out in the sunlight, bare feet as we, march towards a fleet that bares arms against the people who built this nation on our backs
Backs that bared the endless cracks, backs that stood against the wall as we stood tall, as we tried to grieve and believe the words that the world will change, change the oppression, change racism, change the system-
Change, change, change, when is this nation gonna change?
When will this nation face the reality that we are practically moving backward in time?
You made a promise
Your declaration reads that you hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, but people
Let's face it
Equality, freedom, unity, life
What does it matter if you take mine?
What do I do when I have to make my life convenient for you and your privilege?
When do you realize the world isn't what it’s all made up to be?
When do I get to walk down the street and not be seen as different?
Every morning during my third period, I hear that familiar voice on the intercom…
My eyes find that same flag, red, white, and blue, hand on my heart as I stand in wait…
She speaks with ease as she says those indistinguishable words that have been ingrained into our brains since elementary
And it goes a little something like this:
“I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the divided states of America
And to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, invisible, with imprisonment, and may god help us all.”
--Dorinda F., 9th-12th Grade