Analysis of Forgotten Humanity

Our humanity you forget
In your eyes we three-fifths
And you wonder why we rebellious
You wonder why we defy the law
You created a system that never saw us as human
but as property, as chattel to be sold
Modern day slavery, in the form of the New Jim Crow
Also known as population control

The past is never dead, it’s not even past
but the last shall be first and the first shall be last
You flood our community with drugs and guns
to create a second class,
which gives you political clout
to continuously subjugate a whole race
for generations.
Declare a war on drugs
Creating mass-incarceration
You limit my choice, to hush my voice
branding me with the scarlet F
Create a climate you think
gives you the right to take a man’s breath

When you forget my humanity
You violate human rights
disregard life
creating all kinds of strife
Now we have a New Civil Rights Fight

In these days of our lives
In these chaotic times
the paths we cross
In the midst of chaos
Humanity gets lost

They say oppression is worse than slaughter
Objectified through the eyes of the oppressor
Acts we measure
Uniforms draw lines,
As we search for a colorblind society.
Hearts divided
Creates a hostile environment
We stop and we stare
At the fruits we bear

Crushed between oppression
Misery and death
Have you forgotten my humanity?
By taking my breath.
Reality reflection, is life’s expression
Life is a lesson
Knowledge is tested
development, arrested
Either give me liberty or give me death.

My spirit is free
Is it that--that you fear?
 Are you able to hear,
the echo of our cries
the shout of our tears?

Still standing, still alive, still we rise
Still reaching, steady breathin’
Beyond colored lines.
Our destiny is divine decree
but they too blind to see
We see you, but, can you see we?
Or
Have you forgotten my humanity?

You forgot that you knew me
You forget that I’m human
I bleed and I cry
I cry but I bleed
I bow on bending knee
I bend but don’t break
I bow and prostrate
I sin and I pray
I even walk straight on crooked days.
I smile, I laugh
I’m only human
Only you can forget that you knew me.

I see victory, victory I taste
There’s strength through unity
Unity through faith
Time to wake up,
Color is a social construct.
What will it take, to never forget,
That which stares us straight in the face
An irrefutable fact
There’s only one human race.

To forget another’s humanity is to forget your own.