By Chris Griffin
Premise/synopsis
Slave, a poem written by Chris Griffin explores the lasting impact of slavery. Though people of color are not in chains there are systematic issues and loopholes that blur the lines of what can be called modern day slavery.
Photo credit: British Library
Nobody knows the feeling of coming out the womb already a target,
because of the color of our skin.
No matter your age all they worry about is your skin color,
And ancestry.
Won’t give you a business loan,
Not even a job.
They try to keep you out the big white house,
Which is the master house.
This is the land of the free,
Not the land of slavery.
Yes, this system is built,
To keep us down.
Colleges are expensive,
To try to keep us down.
We are modern day slaves can’t you see!!
We only want equality,
Here in the so-called land of the free.
We were brought here against our own will,
Emmitt Till was killed just for being a 14-year-old negro.
Malcolm X said defend us,
Dr. King’s dream was to heal ourselves.
But this world is cold.
Medgar Evers was gunned down in front of his home.
Muhammad Ali stood against the war,
What happened he was stripped everything.
Whatever happened to Dr. King's dream?
Till this day George Floyd was killed,
Colin Kaepernick took a kneel.
Travon Martin was wrongfully killed,
And Mike Brown was shot down because of his skin too.
When will it end my friend?
We have joined together and hand by hand,
And together we will forever stand.
Photo credit: Clay Banks
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About the Author
Christen Griffin is currently a college student at Southeast Missouri State University, and has an interest in writing, specifically film script writing. Throughout his youth he has written speeches, written his own books (Not published), and have written film scripts. Writing is a tool that Chris has used to escape the real world. Whenever he is not mad or sad, Chris writes about it. If a tragedy unfolds around him or around the world, he writes about it. Chris stated that "there are so many things to write about." Chris believes that through his words, he can impact the world. This is why Chris states he writes. Chris stated, "I don’t just write for myself, I write to heal the issues in society."
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