“At the sight of you, in my direction
I know, am the suspect by the sight of my complexion.”
“My hands erect above my head
Officer I surrender, I need no blood shed.”
“Please do not get that weapon drawn
Am harmless, I got a family waiting for my return back home.”
“I know you may have a shoot on site order
From the authorities above that swore
To preserve peace and order.”
“But please, Do not shoot,
Officer, please do not shoot
I do not want to be part of a statistic we all cannot compute”
The black man begged!
On the ground, he is thrust like a nonexistent life of waste.
Cuffed, withheld but still bodily tortured in haste.
The policeman with a jerky scowl on his face
Majestically knelt on the black man’s neck
As he faintly cried.
“Please, I can’t breathe”
In that moment, he could see life
Slip away like a jilted lover
And the face of death uncover
Its truest color.
In that moment, his life did not matter
Like Elijah McClain’s and a million others.
In a split second, another black man slain
by the one in navy blue and the badge, Again!
400 years later and nothing’s changed
Black and brown is a stereotype and a societal threat
Prone to brutality and death.
White supremacy feeds off black lives looted
While a black life is just another statistic computed.
Elijah Baguma is a Ugandan poet, rapper and spoken word artist. He writes and raps under the alias, Elly Bness, The Shrewd Poet. He Started writing music and poetry at the age of 10 in primary school. He pursued a bachelor’s degree in mass communication and has been involved in different media sectors as a writer and producer.
He co-directed a docu series, “From Martyrdom To Glory” which won him a nomination in the Uganda Festival Awards 2014, he was chosen nationwide among the 15 participants in the HipHop Boot Camp by Bayimba Foundation. He has performed on various platforms as both a spoken word artist and rapper.
Words are therapy and this is only the beginning to his therapy.
Platforms
Blog: elijahbaguma.wordpress.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/ellybness
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ellybness
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ellybness
Youtube: https://youtu.be/XPCTcmO3oFw
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If you would like to have your work published in The Poetry Bar send your poem, a few words about yourself and the link to your blog and Instagram account to the e-mail poetrybar1@gmail.com
Nice one Elly, love it
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Thank you so much Fiona. Means a lot!
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