Listen to a rendition of this poem on Sound Cloud
This poem is about a young Black boy’s experience of how the education system views and treats him based off of the stereotypes surrounding his race. Many Black boys are affected by the school-to-prison pipeline which is the disproportionate ratio of young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds to become incarcerated because of increasingly harsh disciplinary policies in schools. Our Executive Director, Thomas Houston was inspired to write this poem because every child deserves to be seen based on who they are rather than the perceptions of our society.
Do see you me?
eager to learn
the ABCs
but I wasn’t seen
Sat in my seat
pencil in hand
eyes direct
ready to learn
but I still wasn’t seen
A few years go by
and I realized that my eyes are not his eyes
light eyes
my skin not his skin
white skin
Middle school came along and I knew
well-behaved or misbehaved, it showed
you said in education, I would not make it
standing outside, your hand pulling mine
guiding me down the pipe
with 25 to life
I should’ve known since you’re the same
as the one that took my father away
falling from the streets
no more memories
he is my king but you have captured him
High school comes around
average student, less hope than before
no matter my actions or words
you see me as a threat
not a student but a threat
incarceration pursues
the pigmentation of my skin
vilifies the person within
denies us education
locks us up behind falsification
Instead of being able to sit in a room with
four walls
I am left to die in a cell with
four bars
just because of the color of my skin
I am eighteen years old today
but fifty-five by tomorrow
there is no justice in the justice system
one little fight at the end of the school day
led to a lifetime fight in prison
just because of educators’ perception
Innocent black boy
turned dangerous black man
defunded education
because of the existence of mass incarceration
and did I mention institutionalized and systematic racism?
Chained up
I dream of the day the education system is funded
the prison system abolished
racism dismantled
and a cycle of breaking black bodies broken
