558 - Alton Sterling

Alton. Sterling.
The name drops from my lips like Trayvon's tender body
Shot. Straight up
For a packet of skittles and a fruit juice drink.
Philando Castile
I read the news this morning
Clicked the
Link below and watched the video on my iPhone
Till blood hit my screen
And then I hear his girlfriend scream
I think
Why didn't you just change the rear light?
And bleach the shade of your rich, midnight skin too?
Maybe then you could've been saved
Only then you would've been saved
We argue about black lives matter, but I don't care for all
Only those on the
sun-kissed spectrum
Those
Only those woven through revolutions,
The ones that tell their kids never to wear hoodies, never to
Play with toy guns
For the soil covered mothers who are living without their sons, or daughters...
Do you remember Sandra Bland? Made headlines for another 'accidental death'.
Alton. Sterling
The name spills from my lips like the star spangled banner and that same patriarchal red that resides in all you
So if you're not angry then you're not listening
Turn on the news
Because Alton Sterling was the 558th innocent black person, 558th... to be murdered by the US cops in 2016.
It may not be my struggle for freedom
But I will sew every single name, every single story every last gasping breath into my skin,
Because all lives might matter
But only when black lives do.

#altonsterling #philandocastile #blacklivesmatter #spokenword #poem #poetry #revolution