Same Blacks Final Video

In Poetic Justice, we have been working on poems that deal with political issues. For our last AP we had to try to memorize our poems. This was the hardest part about the poem because I was so used to reading off of the paper. I will honest, I tried my hardest to memorize but it wasn't working. I had to change up some of my poem because it was way too long. We haven't went on any FE's for this project but on 1/19/2018, Amy from the poetry foundation came in and we talked about poems and how they make us feel. I tried to make sure that I used a lot of emotion and change up the tone of my voice but that was pretty hard because I was trying to remember words while reading my poem. This was a very interesting class. I enjoyed making poems and I loved how I was able to relate some of this stuff to me. As a poet I feel like once you are able to put yourself into a situation it makes things look different to you. It is amazing how I was able to relate to poem, and since I was able to relate to it, that changed my viewpoint of my topic. I feel that this was decent performance and I hope that I do good on this last AP. I am very thankful for my teachers because if it wasn't for them I would not know as much as I know now about poetry.

“If you’re black, stay back;

if you’re brown, stick around;

if you’re yellow, you’re mellow;

if you’re white, you’re alright.”

Why is it that we judge people by the color of their skin

Last time I checked, we all looked the same from within

Melanin, No melanin, we are all the same

But some people like to joke with others and they need to know that this isn’t a game

Supposedly, if you’re lighter, you’re better

Remember at one point in time when we all worked together?

People are so caught up in their buffoonery

Not even thinking about what our future could be.

But you see, me, I’m that girl that certain black people want my color

But what people don’t understand is that,

I was born from someone the same color as them… my mother

My own sister, she calls me white

She carries a grudge because I am so light

Colorism is discriminating based on skin tone

This is just all the way wrong

We are fighting our sisters and brothers

When we should be uniting to improve each other

Back then, I would’ve been a house slave

Now people think that it impacts on how I behave

I would feel like I am not better

Not being able to see my mom, only imagining her voice by reading a letter

I don’t intend to make others feel bad about themselves

But I guess I get on their nerves like a loud schoolbell

The life of colorism still exists

And to be honest, I am pissed

Colorism is taking over

Where some blacks look at lights like we are a 4 leaf clover

I don’t understand why our color matters

Because sooner or later, this world is going to shatter

Why do people think that they are better than others

Which isn’t true because we all come from fathers and mothers

But the worst part, is we’re tearing each other down

And that only makes us look like fools and clowns

Colorism is taking over

Some people think they are the best like a very nice Range Rover

Melanin or none, We are all people of God

Why are we separated in gangs and squads

We need to stand up for what is right

Even if it means that we need to put up a fight

We are all here for a reason

Because this is the year for a non-judging season.

The Brown Paper Bag test defined if you were good or not

If your skin was lighter than the bag you passed the test

If your skin was darker you couldn’t do certain things that lighter toned people could do

My friends grandma, Millie Cruzat

She passed that test, I know her and how cool is that

She tells me stories on how her life was

She would talk about the fights, and how people brought out there claws

We as a people are ruining each other

But aren’t we supposed to be sisters and brothers?

Social Media, “Whose winning? #Team Dark Skins, #Team brownskins, or #Team lightskins?”

And I feel like comparing the color of your skin is a sin

Let’s change this world right now

Because judging is something I won’t allow

All black people are amazing

Colorism, Colorism, its about to start fading!

The topic of my poem was colorism. Colorism is very important to people, especially in the black community, because people make it seem like certain black people are better than others based on their skin tone or the way their hair is. In my poem I was trying to convey the message that no one is better than anyone. I made personal connections in my poem because I have dealt with people constantly calling me white, or I would be somewhere and I would notice people coming up to me calling me pretty but if there was someone with a darker toned skin that was standing next to me, they wouldn’t say anything to that person. I feel that colorism has made it where people start to feel like they actually are better than other people. And I hate it when people start to feel bad about the way they look, either it has something to do with their hair or skin color. All black people are the same, and I feel that my poem has the power to share this message with people all over the world.

In my poem, I used off rhymes, perfect rhymes, and alliteration. I love using rhythm in my poems because they really make me think. But the only problem was trying to find words that have to deal with my topic. Since I was able to do that it made things much more easier for me as the writer because it made sense and I could keep going with what I am trying to convey. Some people like to use rhymes but they don’t think about the words that they are using and they don’t think on if the poem makes sense with that word.

My performance was okay. I feel like I could’ve done better with memorizing my poem and making sure that I changed up my tone while I was reading. I feel like my body language was decet for this video, I could’ve made more hand gestures and more facial expressions while I reading but I was more focused on the words than my performance. If I was to improve my performance, I would have made sure that I studied much harder trying to remember my poem, and I would have used more expression. If I had more time to work on this poem, it would be so much better, but I feel that my performance was decent and I made the best of what I had.