In my shoes if only you could walk this mile
With tragedy and disappointments I’m still proud
Long, courageous strides along this highway
Sun, beaming down radiantly across my face
Today marks another day written in history
My right to vote sets me free,
Yet cold blaring stares surrounding me
Threatening weapons of anxiety overtaking my ability to breathe
False evidence appearing real
And I’m reminded as to why I feel the way that I feel
The change that’s needed is the change we including me have to be
Generations looking up to you and me
While Gen Z are becoming the leaders we should really be
We now have the chance to truly teach them with the opportunities of distance learning
EDUCATION STARTS NOW!!!
Some are not going to like this but that’s okay
Just listen to what I’m about to say
Text book definition of “Plantation” has it watered down to an estate on which crops are cultivated by resident labor
Thank you for the pretty definition but nothing was pretty to the kin of me when my ancestors were on those very plantations
And yet I’ll rise to educate, teach and preach
What the public schools and curriculum system won’t allow for us or youth to read
Why because writers of American History based it off of their experience of what they perceived to be reality: their reality
But in actuality it was slaves the quote unquote residents that broke their backs on those very plantations
I can only imagine the strenuous pains of labor,
Constantly giving birth to a stillborn view of why my life matters too
So how can I ever feel welcomed in a land of a so-called Providence decree, when within the same name presents a negative connotation to me
Fact; abolishment of slavery in Rhode Island was set in 1652 but was never enforced
Fact check; abolishment of slavery in Rhode Island was officially banned in 1843
Wow; it only took centuries
Check your history, because to understand the present we have to digest the past
Which brings us to an attempt in 2010
In my shoes could you ever walk this mile
Maybe, maybe not but hopefully now you understand why
Embracing our history and why we’re a melting pot of diversity
And why my right to vote continues to set me free
And yet we arise again to the occasion because here we are having a celebration of what we thought could never be
We’re becoming the change we desperately need
On our way to becoming a state of peace
The state of Rhode Island no plantations attached
LET FREEDOM RING
Freedom and victory reign breaking those shackles and chains of pain
We arise again, becoming who we are truly meant to be
In this land, this state of being, a new decree
We are now free
LET FREEDOM RING!!!