They Laughed at Me 👽

I wanted to speak on this for so long

I should have said what was on my mind

when this first happen but I stayed silent

the fear of being embarrassed more

than I already was made me bite my tongue

I'll never forget being in the 11th grade

my teacher gave the class a assignment

you had to name 5 people you look up to

also you had to share one goal of yours in life

one by one I watched my classmates get up

to present their projects

I was dreading my turn

I hate attention I don't feel like having all eyes on me

I always would rather find a seat in the back and hide

Eventually it was my turn my teacher asked me

who were the five people you look up to

I named them .... Kobe Bryant, Barrack Obama

Martin Luther King Jr , Muhammad Ali

and Malcom X

I heard a few classmates began to laugh

and someone said why is everybody you named black ? I can't remember who said it exactly

all I remember is they laughed at me

I tried to ignore it and just move on

my teacher asked me to name

one goal of mine that I had in life

I told her my goal is to change the perception

of black man in America

I guess my classmates had me confused

with Kevin Hart because they rewarded me

with more laughter making my heart break

tears could have flowed that day

Enough to grow a entire garden

I kept them in and somehow kept my composure

all I wanted was to say what's in my heart

and they laughed at me

I already know what some are thinking

it's not a big deal all they did was laugh

it may have been laughter but it caused me

to shatter like glass

I've dealt with stereotypes and negative perception

my whole entire life I've always been told

I didn't act black enough because I'm articulate

you can't act a color but you can act like a asshole

there was a time in my life I didn't speak my peace

out of fear of not being accepted

staying silent was my defense mechanism

but staying silent was also a mistake

God gave me a voice and I'm going to use it

so feel free to uplift me and say amen

if you agree with what I'm preaching about

or you can be like my classmates

and laugh at me .....