I’ve always been taught to never judge a book by its cover; it’s what’s on the inside that counts

Be accepting, for there was a time when my kind was rejected, from what my grandmother can recount

This all is still true, but as a person I’ve grown and I’ve changed and I’ve had my mind opened

To the rejections, discriminations, and prejudices that still today go unspoken

For a very long time, I was blind and I thought the world had become a better place

A world that righted its wrongs, strove to be inclusive and sought further change with haste

But that was when I was blind, I’m not anymore

The world has changed, that I can see, but not nearly as much as is popularly believed

Much is still hidden from our eyes, kept in the dark, so we can breathe false sighs of relief

There are still people oppressed and problems unsolved that need to be brought to the light

Tragically we remain unconscious to them; we turn our mindless backs and ignore their plight

We think the work is done, that we’ve conquered all and transcended the ancestors of our past

But have we really? I never thought of this before, how others need to slow down and not assume so fast

But that was when I was thoughtless, I’m not anymore

I know I’m not the only one that hears these low, hallowed whispers begging for a real voice

Others who can’t get this dull, recurrent sound from their heads and they need to make a choice

They need to make the right choice, they need to be the vessel for these whisperer’s liberation

They need to break from their own perfect, round, sound-proof bubbles of whomever’s false creation

We’ve waited more than enough time, the world is more than ripe and ready now to listen

My hearing wasn’t always so keen; my ears were closed too, shut to any and all slight utters of opposition

But that was when I was deaf, I’m not anymore

We, as a people, from every far corner and crevice of this gigantic and diverse world

Need to open our big mouths, purse our lips at the ready and unroll tongues curled

Speak up for, not on behalf of, repressed minority voices, subdued social issues, and global concerns

Communicate for the Transgender male, the weeping Brazilian, the Black American that’s too many times burned

For all voices, your voice, my voice, they’re privileged and valued over others, the ones who must whisper

I didn’t realize the power I had; I wasn’t vocal before, I said nothing, not a grunt or whine or whimper

But that was when I was mute, I’m not anymore

Maybe, possibly, if everyone in the world could reach out and feel the pain of others less fortunate

If all had the ability to trace with their fingertips all the hopelessness and despair now permanent

Press the back of their hand against the grief of the Syrian refugee and angst of the lesbian from Palestine

Maybe more is needed than just the pumping heart or the fleeting intuition or the tickles up the spine

Perhaps people need to hold in their very palms the institutionalized prejudices and systematic murders

My hands were useless before, before they could crave the texture of a new world order

But that was when I was without touch, I’m not anymore

A black man is the president, women are in the armed forces, LGBTQ-ers can get married

One World Trade was built, undocumented Mexicans can get licenses, guns can be bought, concealed, and carried

We’ve got Doctors Without Borders, passed the Affordable Healthcare Act, genocides are a rare occurrence

Billionaires have their own charities, Southern Blacks can walk down the streets without reassurance

Big corporations are trying to save the environment, freedom of speech and expression is a real thing

America accepts all, we are world leaders, wave our spangled banner high and let freedom ring

But that was what I used to believe, I don’t anymore

Black men are slain on the streets, women get paid 77 cents to the male dollar, Transgenderism is invisible

All Muslims are possible ISIS bombers, every Hispanic a dirty wetback, mass shootings are now admissible

Third world relief is glamourized, Obamacare is ridiculed, ethnic cleansing takes place in Syria and Sudan at this very moment

Greedy CEOs stretch the wage gap wider and grow richer, while crimes against blacks await atonement

The Earth is stripped of life in the name of consumerism, the voices and cries of those outside the West are disregarded

America claims to be the leader of the free world, but all I see is a world chained down by its own ignorance, a world disheartened

This is what I know now, the truth can’t hide anymore

What can we do, what will we do, to steer humanity down a new and brighter path?

We, you, me, we’ve got the power, we’ve got the motivation, let us unleash our educated wrath

Stop ignoring what’s in front of you, humble yourself, reach down, and lend a helping hand

Don’t wait any longer for a leader, go lead, with mind open, heart willing, take a stand

This world, your very nation, is not perfect; it’s about time every one of us faced that fact

We were stagnant before, stuck in our old ways of thinking, not willing to act

But that’s who we were, we can’t be that anymore

I’ve always been taught to never judge a book by its cover, to be accepting of all those around me

I just wish every human would take a shot at this, across this flawed land and across the vast sea

A new world has revealed itself to me, a world harsh and violent, a world cold and resenting

Though my mind’s been opened, my heart’s grown heavy because it seems the humanity’s old ways are unrelenting

I can’t let doubt stop me; the world can be what I envision, one without prejudice or grief, hunger or war

I remember a time when I was blind, thoughtless, deaf, mute, and without feeling- that I can’t ignore

But that was who I was then, I’m not anymore

all the love,