i was the black kid in an all white class Poem

Written by Jolie Brownell

my body, not my body.

my body a pool of black paint,

you drip your fingers in,

to feel what it is like to be me,

instead of believe me.

my body, not my body.

my body an echo for your words,

‘racism no longer exists anymore.’

...somewhere between the lessons of

rosa parks‘ courage, mlk's dream,

and malcolm x’s death.

my body, not my body.

my body a doll,

you hold up by the strings of my hair.

my body your pinocchio, to replay,

i mean, rewrite historic facts

into your granddaddy’s tales of

saving savages from themselves,

by enslaving them.

my body, not my body,

my body a puppet you use,

in place of facing your past in the mirror,

facing yourself in the mirror.

my body your pinocchio,

yet, the further back in history we go,

the longer your white nose.

yes, i was the black body,

in an all white class

-\decolonize education