BLACK AND GAY
Being black is bad enough they say,
Just don’t be black and gay.
The world is tough alone with racial prejudice,
But for a queer black man, even more inclement.
Unnaturally sinful they describe this way,
But I’d rather be honest than to ever dare betray.
Sometimes it seems folks would prefer me to be DL,
Leaving my woman and kids with a sad story to tell
Of how I lied to be with her and
Secretly longed that she was sir.
Whether ‘tis nature or nature,
I do not care.
Knowing this fact would nothing change.
For I’d still be me, gay and black – all the same.
It was hard but I’ve managed to reconcile.
Put me in exile, but I won’t dare live in denial.
WHAT WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR
Youthful optimism and unabashed self-expression,
teaching your peers and older generations an important lesson
of our humanity and rightful place to live equally amongst
our straight brothers and sisters in this land of freedom
where the liberty and happiness we pursue draw closer to reality.
It will be you who will fully benefit from the aims of our patience:
those rights and laws delineating the erasure of lines that divide us.
The fear, animosity, and hatred that we have known will largely pass,
ushering a new era of extended brotherhood throughout all fifty states.
There’s no doubt that these events will give us all cause to celebrate,
and as youth of today, you will have the privilege to live in this tomorrow.
Give up, therefore, not so easily in this transition of time and laws;
know instead that resistance is natural when breakthroughs are near.
Activists and allies have fought to dismantle the shame of the closet
for you to fully live and thrive in the tomorrow that is readily clear.
~Poetry by Malcolm V
You Will Rise Project 