Show Them Who You Are!
By Ayana Sloan
You were stolen from your homeland, shackled and sold into slavery, yet you knew you were not destined to be a slave or to toil in chains under the brutality of the lash.
You have bravely fought and died on foreign soil for rights and freedom you were denied by Jim Crow and American apartheid, but you still volunteered to serve your country and to defend the ideals of democracy.
You have constantly been subjected to legalized cruelty and terrorized with systemic violence, yet you have refused to be crushed by the weight of brutality or held captive by the venom of hatred.
You have been viciously beaten on our city streets and routinely murdered because of the color of your skin, but you have continued to fight for justice and demand the right to be heard.
You have been portrayed as a menace to society and feared as a dangerous animal, yet you have defied the odds and become some of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen.
You were forced to bear the interminable weight of racism and treated like a second-class citizen, but you led an unprecedented historical movement and inspired an entire nation with your dream.
You were called a boy and a liar by two elected officials plus continually denied the respect given to all of your predecessors, yet you successfully led a nation and became one of the most respected leaders in the free world.
African American men living in America, in spite of all the obstacles put in your path and the barriers you unjustly face, you have refused to let others define you. Continue to rise up; show them who you are and change the world!
By Ayana Sloan
You were stolen from your homeland, shackled and sold into slavery, yet you knew you were not destined to be a slave or to toil in chains under the brutality of the lash.
You have bravely fought and died on foreign soil for rights and freedom you were denied by Jim Crow and American apartheid, but you still volunteered to serve your country and to defend the ideals of democracy.
You have constantly been subjected to legalized cruelty and terrorized with systemic violence, yet you have refused to be crushed by the weight of brutality or held captive by the venom of hatred.
You have been viciously beaten on our city streets and routinely murdered because of the color of your skin, but you have continued to fight for justice and demand the right to be heard.
You have been portrayed as a menace to society and feared as a dangerous animal, yet you have defied the odds and become some of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen.
You were forced to bear the interminable weight of racism and treated like a second-class citizen, but you led an unprecedented historical movement and inspired an entire nation with your dream.
You were called a boy and a liar by two elected officials plus continually denied the respect given to all of your predecessors, yet you successfully led a nation and became one of the most respected leaders in the free world.
African American men living in America, in spite of all the obstacles put in your path and the barriers you unjustly face, you have refused to let others define you. Continue to rise up; show them who you are and change the world!
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