(written to “Us” by Ice Cube)

My people live where America is ripping at its seams

and even though America is equipped with the best glasses and

contacts we still have to combat the invisibility cloak our

blackness grants us

because we’ve never truly been seen.

The powers that be are hearing me

and fearing me

since my mission is to dismantle systems of white

supremacy

But sometimes we’re our own worst enemies.

We’ll attack each other like we ain’t on the same team.

Brothers stopped having dreams after they killed Martin for his.

Then brothers started to confide in the wrong “X” when they

killed Malcolm in front of his wife and his kids.

Now our communities have turned into prisons.

Mothers see their sons rise just for brothers to gun them

down in broad daylight.

Brothers ain’t ever been good at math

but specialize in division

since we see each other as competition.

Brothers get old enough to be considered adults but spend their

entire lives as children.

They would never let go of their toys

and fought over LEGOs as boys

and I find it ironic how brothers find themselves dying over

blocks.

It’s bad enough I gotta worry about racist cops

that are looking for reasons to arrest and book me.

But it’s a shame that I gotta watch for jealous brothers that

might pull rifles and glocks to shoot me while I go to the store

to buy some juice and butter cookies.

And you’d think brothers were giving out PTO

the way they let guns off.

They trip when brothers do work in their own communities

just look at how they did Nip and Young Dolph.

How can you be jealous of how fast the next man is running when

you can set your own pace?

Why cut a brother down in the middle of the marathon when y’all

are literally running the same race?

It’s time that we get back to loving one another.

Black man, we shouldn’t be looking at ourselves as enemies

when the reality is

we’re brothers.

Nick Courmon is an international poet, spoken word artist, workshop facilitator, and motivational speaker from Greensboro, NC. Nick uses his art to teach African American History, address a myriad of social issues, and to advocate for mental health awareness. Nick has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, NBC's Today, VICE News, and Narratively. Nick has also used his art to collaborate with Beats by Dre, USA Today, the Museum of Contemporary Art: North Miami, Missourians Against the Death Penalty, Democracy NC, NC Black Alliance, the Wounded Warrior Project, Palta. Read his work at: www.ndcpoetry.com

(Photo by Cassandra Hamer on Unsplash)