About race…

The story of race is one that is not easily told and often misunderstood. In an attempt to simplify this journey, we will begin with a poem. Each stanza is meant to describe or provoke thought about a chapter in the history of race. You may click on each image within the poem to lead to a broader, more detailed discussion of what that piece implies.

I don’t see color

Let’s not play that game

I do see color

And no two are the same

We are 8 billion Pantones

Each good as the next

That’s beauty skin deep

That’s the ultimate flex

Phenotype is simply

a manifestation

Genotype is the

intended destination

If you scope to the level

of x’s and y’s

We’re all the same

Just a different disguise

So don’t tell me your race

Cuz that script’s made up

To divide us, misguide us

And keep us locked up

How high can you jump

How far can you throw

How high can you think

How far can you know

We all have the same

shot at intelligence

Hair type, skin color

To brains, no relevence

Athletic success

Comes from opportunity

Or lack thereof

Within a community

Trying to navigate

All the ignorance and petty hate

Leaves me wanting to separate

From those refusing to cerebrate

You want to talk ancestry

Go back 60,000 years

Where we lived as one

To the south of Algiers

San bushman the tribe

From which we all came

Many paths out

But we’re still all the same

To Australia, and India

And what would later be Spain

That’s where they first went

That’s where they changed

Appearances, adherences

Biological interferences

External dissension

But internal coherences

For melanin is simply

A response to the sun

As we left the equator

Lighter skin tones begun

Because the body and brain know

To survive, thrive and be

We completely depend

On that vitamin D

Looks aren’t deceiving

But scary to some

Let’s put aside our differences, since

There really are none

I’m not asking for love

Just the removal of hate

Let’s open our minds

Take this time to elevate

Because there’s only one race

To which we all belong

And if we’re going to win it

It takes one people strong