This time
it just felt different.
The photographs
were too obvious,
too egregious.
The outrage
was a given,
sure to spill out
into the streets
because really,
where else could it go?
Peace had not generated
the necessary noise.

With a malicious knee,
we’re back in the history books
and it’s embarrassing.
Didn’t we fight these battles
years ago
when they were just a unit
in a high school social studies class?
Or is that a big part of the problem?
For some of us,
justice was just a test to pass,
a GPA to nurture.
We may not have been truly challenged
or allowed ourselves to be challenged
with the reality
that people once lived in the lack of justice.
They still live in the lack of justice
and oppression.

Now we’re in the real world
and a lot of us are failing our exams.
They’re being passed back to us
on these streets and bridges
where learning the material
has become a life or death matter.
Grading myself,
I am shamed.
I’m sorry for falling asleep,
I’m sorry for my silence,
I’m sorry that it’s taken a knee
to the neck instead of turf
to awaken the outrage.

We had so many chances at equality
for all people.
We’ve put too many bodies in the ground.
Peace has had too many voices
for I can’t breathe
to become the rallying cry.
Now we all hear.
There are new chapters to study
in the next editions of the textbooks
being put together
in our streets today.

It is our duty
to work at shaping
the future of this country
and the wellbeing of all its citizens.
In another sixty years,
when our grandchildren are studying
for tomorrow’s social studies exam,
what history will be told?
What questions will be posed?
And what answers will they be giving
about us?