by Jayla Reilly, Features Contributor
photo courtesy of Jayla Reilly
Animals
Monsters
Thugs
That’s what they called us the next morning
Criminals
Terrorists
Rioters
Those words cut like shards of glass from shattered store windows
They burn like police cruisers flipped on their sides
They sting like tear gas — choking me until I can’t breathe without feeling like I’m dying
It’s not fair
It’s never been fair
I don’t know if it ever will be fair
Because what they won’t tell you
Is that the skin of those who broke the windows
Burned the shops
Smashed the cruisers
Their skin was not black like the midnight filled with sirens
No, their skin was white
White like the hats of the medics who were shot by police
But still
We are the ones who are blamed
Even if we were the perpetrators
Does it matter anymore?
Be peaceful
They say
The most important thing is to be peaceful
But we’ve been peaceful
We’ve been peaceful for three hundred years and nothing has changed
It’s not fair
It’s never been fair
I don’t think it ever will be fair
Because no matter what we do
The reaction will always be the same
They care more about money
About business
About animals
About a piece of striped cloth
Than they care about us
So yes
We’re mad
I’m mad
We have every right to be mad
And if our anger scares you
Good
Maybe now you’ll listen
