One major issue with our generation, these "millennials" you call them, is that we don't believe in consistency. Or loyalty. Or trust. Or anything outside of ourselves for that matter. Sadly, our attention span falls behind that of a goldfish. A GOLDFISH! We follow something for eight simple seconds and poof: What? Who? Where?
*snaps fingers*
Now that I have your attention again … I bring this up because I was walking through Downtown DC earlier today and watched a few men removing the LGBT flag from their building. In the supportive aftermath of what happened in Orlando, nearly every business in the DC area displayed a token of support in their windows, balconies and store fronts. But this one act of removal made me think of just how short lived our support for one another may be. Maybe not as young as those eight seconds, but I realized as I was scrolling on social media that all the trending acts of support that were happening a matter of weeks, or even days ago, don't exist. These acts were here to raise justice for the countless young black lives, LGBT lives, and any and every life taken too early or unlawfully. Where'd they all go? Where'd the believers go? The protests? Hashtags? Anything. It's just gone. Gone, because we as a society get annoyed seeing the same things over and over again. Gone because that attention span thrives for something new, a change.
Our generation moves at the speed of light to join a movement after seeing a few "justice for ____" hashtags, comments, and an image of a young defeated victim. But what good is a social uproar if with every eight seconds that pass, that fighting support no longer matters?
So with that in mind, I ask you to read my untitled poem. Untitled because I want to allow it to grow continuously, never limiting its reach. I wrote this poem at the time when police brutality was taking over our social world and the real world of many undeserving victims. But now, with the recent traumatic events, I ask that you read my words with a mind that is open to all colors, shapes, genders, cultures, and sexuality. Keep an open mind and be kind.
#Blacklivesmatter
#Alllivesmatter
Hashtags matter?
A social world with no sense of how to be social in the real world
We hide behind number signs
Thinking we speak our minds but who really listens?
So we march.
Preaching like the King back in '63,
Humble, thriving with desires to be free.
Just to be taken 5 years later like he was in Tennessee,
Or to die too young cause you’re young black and free?
Too often this is all we can see through the eye our media perceives
And
They say history repeats
So let’s put a stop to it, right?
No
Cause all you're worried about is getting a re-tweet.
Like this, follow me
Everyone hashtags after they preach
But who's really there to lead?
So let’s lead, continuously
Coming together from every degree, angle and street
There’s change to be made and lives to be saved
Of all genders, shapes, and colors.
So let’s remind ourselves of the cause behind that hashtag,
‘Cause they've cause a lot more than eight seconds of grief
For the lonely mother crying in the street,
Don’t let her feel the defeat.
‘Cause all we need is that change
to take the lead,
A change is all we need
So Let’s Lead continuously,
Together
