{"id":3487,"date":"2023-10-08T14:49:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T14:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rashidmod.com\/?p=3487"},"modified":"2023-10-20T17:05:33","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T17:05:33","slug":"better-than-black-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/?p=3487","title":{"rendered":"BETTER THAN BLACK (2023)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"silhouette\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Racialization is
\nA status,
\nOn which
\nThe only thing that matters<\/p>\n

Is your hue and
\nComplexion,
\nAnd the dark one
\nOffers no protection<\/p>\n

Against being shot by cops
\nOr suffering insults and offense,
\nAnd being treated as if
\nYou have no sense.<\/p>\n

But some can’t accept
\nThe fact that,
\nNo matter how they
\nAct that,
\nIf they don’t fight back,
\nThey’ll never be better than black<\/p>\n

So…<\/p>\n

One step forward
\nTwo steps back,
\nDoes that
\nMake you better than black?<\/p>\n

Funny how you wear a badge
\nThen you act,
\nLike the cross hairs are off your back
\nAnd suddenly you’re safe from being black.<\/p>\n

Got a little money
\nMove away don’t come back,
\nLike that make you
\nBetter than black.<\/p>\n

Whether a warden or guard
\nYour foot on your own people’s back,
\nAn overseer
\nAin’t better than black.<\/p>\n

A Hollywood minstrel character
\nBeing told how to act,
\nCelebrity don’t
\nMake you better than black.<\/p>\n

A dark face in a high place
\nBut powerless in fact,
\nA puppet and token
\nAin’t better than black.<\/p>\n

They pat your head
\nSmile at you rub your back,
\nDoes being a house nigga
\nFeel better than black?<\/p>\n

A white woman on your arm
\nYou push sistas to the back,
\nDoes that
\nMake you feel better than black?<\/p>\n

Kissing boots and asses
\nYour face wedged in a crack,
\nDoes a shit stained nose
\nMake you better than black?<\/p>\n

Buy a fancy house and car
\nStylish digs on your back,
\nEven that
\nDon’t make you better than black<\/p>\n

You fell through the crack
\nSo you thinking that,
\nBeing bougie
\nMake you better than black.<\/p>\n

Your vocab sophisticated
\nUsing proper yackety yak,
\nHolding your ass tight
\nDon’t make you better than black.<\/p>\n

Join the military
\nMurder Innocents from Afrika to Iraq,
\nBeing a hired gun
\nWon’t make you better than black.<\/p>\n

You built this land
\nWith forced labor that’s a fact,
\nIt’s not even acknowledged
\nYou ain’t allowed to be better than black.<\/p>\n

One cop enters your hood
\nYou run throw your gun and pack,
\nBut kill your own
\nYou hate and afraid of being black.<\/p>\n

Imposed by those
\nAt the top of the stack,
\nA system built on class and color division
\nNeeds the lower stratum of black.<\/p>\n

For some to be out front
\nOthers gotta be held back,
\nThis is why they can’t dispense
\nWith the role of the black.<\/p>\n

So no matter what you do
\nNo matter how you act,
\nUntil we destroy capitalism
\nYou’ll never rise above being black.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Kevin Rashid Johnson<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Racialization is A status, On which The only thing that matters Is your hue and Complexion, And the dark one Offers no protection Against being shot by cops Or suffering insults and offense, And being treated as if You have no sense. But some can’t accept The fact that, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3488,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-3487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-poetry","has-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3487"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3489,"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3487\/revisions\/3489"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rashidmod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}