as if

AS IF

As if that money and respect diluted our cause
so in our history books we read of the civil rights,
of being on pause.
as if our revolution became the struggle's evolution
out the door went pan-africanisms, in came western tribalism
as if and Africans look down on black Americans and no one
can trust a West Indian.
as if We can't see the effects of 400 years of incarceration,
400 years none compensation,
400 years of no identification
as if 400 years were never missing,

society could not contain us
so they emasculated us
dressed up in costumes of greed and deceit
as if you made us believe that we had to sling that crack
on that corner for our families to eat
desecrating our future, in this capitalist era
not knowing how far we diverted from our ancestors
as if we forgot we are our brother's keeper.
as if we Forget we are our sistas protector
as if we forget we are not wife beaters
as if we forget we are not sperm donors
as if we did not remember once that our blood
lay the ancestral spirits of warriors

and when you see me I know
you assume as if I have been pacified
yet still, everything in my community
you must amplify, magnify,
as if a threat may still linger.