Brad Girson, Executive Director
Atlantic Ventures
The Atlantic
ATTN: Hayley Romer
60 Madison Avenue
6th Floor: The Atlantic
New York, NY 10010
My poem “ Judged because of our skin “ is based on segregation and inspired by The HBO watchmen sponsored partnership production , The Massacre of Black Wall Street. I’m sharing some of what I know about segregation with you to maybe inspire you . Hope you enjoy it 🙂
Dear executive director ,
Judged because of our skin ,
You took up your seat to allow others to see ,
There is no future for inequality ,
Why should one race stand ,
Leading without democracy ,
Color must never determine fate ,
As ultimately we all,
Belong to one , great big one race ,
A seat , restaurant , water fountain ,
Doesn’t actually matter ,
As long as it provides a place
Connecting us all to our earthly base .
Never should our buildings be burned down
Because you hate how we have our black owned businesses,
We all have the humanly right to live,
But you don’t believe that so you give us sentences ,
Those 9 thousand people all deserved a place to stay ,
But because all you seen was a place full of undeserving colored people ,
They couldn’t enjoy their lives and their hopes and dreams have gone away .
Your line: “Never should our buildings be burned down
Because you hate how we have our black-owned businesses,” is so powerful and strong, it stood out to me! What made you choose your cover image?
Dear Niazia :
I am delighted with your poem, “Judged because of our skin,” because racial segregation and being dehumanized is a major issues faced within the world. We can only hope it will get resolved in the best way possible as soon as we can.
One sentence you wrote that stands out for me is: “color must never determine fate” I think this is amazing because it never does. It’s not our decision to be born as who we are but we can choose to be proud of who we are. Having self-pride is best for everyone so we can be heard.
Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next because I am truly intrigued as to what an amazing poem you have written. It inspired me to make it more known to other people how big of an issue this truly is. I genuinely look forward to reading more beautiful poems you will hopefully write in the future.
Joshua
Dear :Niazia
I am intrigued by your post “judged because of our skin,” because often times people forget to think before they speak. Especially being that there is so much social media and since they arent face to face they fail to remember they are still human and with feelings and emotions.people tend to mistreat others due to their skin or appearance and it is very unfair.
One sentence you wrote that stands out for me is: ¨But because all you seen was a place full of undeserving colored people ,They couldn’t enjoy their lives and their hopes and dreams have gone away .¨I think this is strong because just because of one persons made up stereotype many people follow it.
Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next, because this was a very strong poem
Leah Rodriguez
good work!