Selections from “This World is Going to Change” by Aniya Butler

Halftime

But we do have to be strong
We have to work harder than everyone else
Younger girls look at older girls like me
Like a superhero with a super-belt
We need to show them what we can do
We can dribble a ball and shoot
It’s halftime Oakland
Girls get up
Because it’s our time

I Can’t Breathe

Is my skin color a threat to you
Does my blackness make you sweat
Do i make you nervous
I must because seems like being black is being a walking weapon
I can’t breathe
It’s systematic racism
And hatred from other races
Boy rolled up in a mat with his organs missing
Thats a closed case
It’s not only police brutality
It’s the hate towards the color of my skin
The hate towards me being me
I can’t breathe

Opposites

What if white people were treated the same as Black people
What if we were opposites for one day
A white man gets pulled over by a Black cop
Because his tail light is broken
The Black cop instantly puts his hand on his gun
Because “white people are dangerous”
But that’s just if we were opposites
Another white man’s life is gone
A mother has to bury her son
Once again
But that’s just if we were opposites

That Smile

It’s also that smile
That smile when you walk in the darkest room
All of a sudden it brightens up
Like the clouds had to make room for
That smile
The smile that can turn your worst day
Into an ok day
That smile when you walk into the kitchen that’s like a sauna because you know it’s time to say grace
Which means it’s time to eat
That smile

When Have We Ever

When have we ever been treated equally
When have we ever been treated like we are human beings
We went to slavery
Segregation
Police brutality
When is this world going to ever change
It’s like they hate saying our name
When have we ever not been on your side
You came to our land asking us for resources so you can survive
And we said yes
Then you put us in chains
Took away our names
And called it a day
When have we ever asked for the world
We just want respect
And to be treated like we belong
We do belong right?

When They Ask Me About Now

When they ask me about now, I will tell them that I live on stolen land
And that I wake up in the morning for human equity
And that I come from a line of queens
That I come from the most beautiful continent that anyone has seen
When they ask me about now, I will tell them that I breathe for equal and free education
When I witness police brutality I get a sensation
I am sad for myself
For living in this nation
When they ask me about now, I will tell them that I raised my fist for young people’s voices to be heard
We might not know everything but we will learn