Young. Men. Of color.

I know it may seem counterproductive to have me on your side,

Being that I’m like, totally super eloquent and stuff,

My mom is white so she never had to worry about being told to speak a language other than her native tongue,

She never had to worry about any of the disadvantages you or I will,

But did you know that she was seventeen when I was conceived?

That she has a photograph of me in her arms in her cap and gown?

That her mother shamed her more for the color of my father's skin than the fact that she was pregnant at all?

And she still loved me, cherished me, raised me, into the kind of person that will stand before you and tell you that I love you no matter what you feel for me.

You stood before them, preaching, “Little brown boy”

Those hands have the power to begin and end wars,

Thank you for doing only the latter,

Those ears, though they demand music, and laughter, and applause,

They listen very well to my incessant, incomprehensible rambling,

And that voice, its ability to rise above anything and everything is a gift and a curse,

But you use it exclusively to lift that of others.

I’ve used each of your shoulders to cry and support me,

Even though you’re supporting the weight of the world on them as well,

Even though you support a family past, present, and future on them,

Even though those shoulders are used to criminalize and stereotype you.

You lead movements,

For both mine and your own,

Yet who is there to bolster your uprising, to offer you their shoulder?

You pack a punch purely with words but who will listen?

Does your mother have a picture of you in her arms in her cap and gown?

Funny thing about melanin is,

It can feel like a protective blanket…

Or a giant red target.

How do you always make me feel protected?

This is for you,

Young. Man. Of color.

For those hands,

Those shoulders,

For all the music, laughter, and applause,

For always rising above, and even for those times when you don’t,

When you can’t.

Setting the stage, paving the way, and everything in between.

You are my past, present, and future.