The Right to Remain Silent
A pecha kucha (Inspired by the iTunes top 20 chart)

[Blank Space]

When I was six years old

My best friend was white.

We smiled, laughed,

And ran across the playground

Trying to play freeze-tag with time

[Do They Know It’s Christmas]

Int: Split-screen, one white household, the other black.

Scene 1:“Daddy! Mommy!” he screamed as he

Un-wrapped his shiny new go-kart.

Scene 2: Eyes glistening, “I don’t think Santa is going to make it this year baby.”

His mother whispered while staring at the floor.

[Take Me to Church]

One time I asked my father,

“Who created God?”

He stared at me and thought carefully

Before answering… 

[Shake It Off]

There were certain sounds that came and went

Like the footsteps of my grandfather.

So he listened carefully,

Taking notes from a father

He never had.

[All About that Bass]

Jazz has its’ way of soothing the broken.

It gives meaning to the word music,

Bending chords that could mend a heart,

Pouring out rhythm

To quench a depraved soul.

[Animals]

We all thrive off others.

The flesh that remains on your plate after you eat

Was raised by a farmer.

The flesh that remains within me comes from the divine,

Or at-least when I break bread.

[Night Changes]

He told me that his parents

wouldn’t allow us to be friends anymore.

I laid crying on the pale shoulder of my mother that night.

While my dark dad yelled into the phone

In the distance.

[I’m Not the Only One]

Allah, Brahma,

Buddha, God,

Jehovah, Krishna,

Shiva, Yahweh

 [Jealous]

“We don’t have money for that.’

“But Chase has it!”

Words were mentioned that he didn’t understand,

Sometimes the words white and black

Are unrecognizable when viewed in other languages.

[Steal My Girl]

Lips pressed up against each other

In between the polyester sheets of a Motel 8

Just south of Crenshaw Boulevard.

This is what lust is,

This is what life is.

[Just Staying]

He stayed here for me.

That is what I will say

To the 5 million other children

Of my race that cannot say the same.

He stayed here for me.

[Centuries]

12 years to become a graduate.

18 to become an adult.

21 to decide what you want to do for the rest of your life.

75 to live.

13.8 billion to compare.

[I Don’t Fuck with You]

Ext: normal home, party going on next door.

Reader 1: “Hey, you niggers keep it down or I’m coming over there!”

Reader 2: “Nigga, what? Fuck you,

 fuck crackers, and fuck you again.

Look at me, at my skin, and tell me that you won’t pull the trigger.”

[Lips are Movin’]

I have felt chocolate trickle down the sides of my tongue,

Filling my cravings with a satisfaction only she can tell.

As so the ivory that touched my skin,

Checking each note, loving every inch of my body.

[Tuesday]

My real father died on Tuesday.

That’s all I really remember.

Yesterday my son was born.

Today is Wednesday.

[Trumpets]

“Put the trumpet to your lips!

Like an eagle the enemy comes

Against the house of the LORD

Because they have transgressed my covenant

And rebelled against my law.” – Hosea 8:1

[Bang Bang]

A worker sorts bullets on an assembly line.

A white male, 28, places a badge upon his chest, telling his family he loves them.

A black male, 18, decides he needs money…now.

A shooting.

A country separated even though only 1.3 million Americans are legally blind.

[Stay High] 

Twirling from the edge of your lips

Lies, fears, pains, and tragedies.

So, inhale.

Let it capture your mind

Only escaping when reality frees you.

[Riptide] 

Send them to the plank and throw them overboard,

But don’t swim through them, you will drown.

When I am stuck in America’s rip-tide,

I swim sideways,

Escaping the current.