Lives Stolen
#BlackLivesMatter
#BlackLivesMatter
#BlackLivesMatter,
but they don’t,
not in America,
where the police
kill Black boys,
again and again and again.
Dontre Hamilton (2014), Milwaukee, WI,
Eric Garner (2014), New York, NY,
John Crawford (2014), Dayton, OH,
Michael Brown (2014), Ferguson, MO,
Ezell Ford (2014), Florence, CA,
Dante Parker (2014), Victorville, CA,
Laquan McDonald (2014), Chicago, IL,
Akai Gurley (2014), Brooklyn, NY,
Tamir Rice (2014), Cleveland, OH,
Rumain Brisbon (2014), Phoenix, AZ,
Jerame Read (2014), Bridgeton, NJ,
Tony Robinson (2015), Madison, WI,
Phillip White (2015), Vineland, NJ,
Eric Harris (2015), Tulsa, OK,
Walter Scott (2015), Charleston, SC,
Freddie Gray (2015), Baltimore, MD,
Alton Sterling (2016), Baton Rouge, LA,
Stephon Clarke (2018), Sacramento, CA,
George Floyd (2020), Minneapolis, MN,
and too many others,
and too many others.
When is Enough, ENOUGH!
They’re THUGS to Trump and his followers.
They’re unarmed Black men,
who have been slaughtered, to the rest of us.
Lives lost,
lives stolen,
like in slavery,
which is supposed to be over,
but lingers, in racial violence,
raising its spectral hand
to kill
another Black boy.
Author Bio:
Kathleen Murphey is an associate professor of English at Community College of Philadelphia. Her poems have been published through Writing in a Woman's Voice, the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, among other platforms/publications. JMS Books will publish her collection of alternative, sex-positive, LGBTQ+ fairy tales, Rainbow Tales, in July. For more about her, visit her website at www.kathleenmurphey.com.
#BlackLivesMatter
#BlackLivesMatter
#BlackLivesMatter,
but they don’t,
not in America,
where the police
kill Black boys,
again and again and again.
Dontre Hamilton (2014), Milwaukee, WI,
Eric Garner (2014), New York, NY,
John Crawford (2014), Dayton, OH,
Michael Brown (2014), Ferguson, MO,
Ezell Ford (2014), Florence, CA,
Dante Parker (2014), Victorville, CA,
Laquan McDonald (2014), Chicago, IL,
Akai Gurley (2014), Brooklyn, NY,
Tamir Rice (2014), Cleveland, OH,
Rumain Brisbon (2014), Phoenix, AZ,
Jerame Read (2014), Bridgeton, NJ,
Tony Robinson (2015), Madison, WI,
Phillip White (2015), Vineland, NJ,
Eric Harris (2015), Tulsa, OK,
Walter Scott (2015), Charleston, SC,
Freddie Gray (2015), Baltimore, MD,
Alton Sterling (2016), Baton Rouge, LA,
Stephon Clarke (2018), Sacramento, CA,
George Floyd (2020), Minneapolis, MN,
and too many others,
and too many others.
When is Enough, ENOUGH!
They’re THUGS to Trump and his followers.
They’re unarmed Black men,
who have been slaughtered, to the rest of us.
Lives lost,
lives stolen,
like in slavery,
which is supposed to be over,
but lingers, in racial violence,
raising its spectral hand
to kill
another Black boy.
Author Bio:
Kathleen Murphey is an associate professor of English at Community College of Philadelphia. Her poems have been published through Writing in a Woman's Voice, the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, among other platforms/publications. JMS Books will publish her collection of alternative, sex-positive, LGBTQ+ fairy tales, Rainbow Tales, in July. For more about her, visit her website at www.kathleenmurphey.com.
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