Stop Crying Black Girl

   (Written and Performed for Martin Luther King Jr. Banquet in Idaho Falls in 2019)

Stop crying black girl don't let those tears run anymore down your face

 stop cry  black girl stop crying and black boy they've already run the race 

what are you afraid of look at this place do you not trust me. 

Fine let us drink from the same water fountain has that quenched your thirst?

 let us read from the same book let us split the verse

 let us sit up at this counter and share a meal, there how does that make you feel?

  stop crying  black girl that shooting was so far away it will never make it to a place like this.

stop crying  black girl put down your fist 

 you are no black panther, no civil right movement starter you missed that bus. But in case you are wondering, we would have let you sit up front with us. 

Stop crying black girl, is that a ring i see, we let you marry that white boy what else do you need to feel free? 

Turn the lights off and put away the stage, close the curtain and bottle that rage. 

The time has passed for parades and rallies, turn off the news and erase those tallies. Tallies of black men, women and children slain out in the open for all to see. You know you can't trust what you see on tv.

 We gave you education and now you turn around to use it against us. We gave you liberation, now your think you know more than us. 

Stop crying black girl, what fears do you have, you are no rosa parks,  you have no reason to be tired. You are no Claudette Colvin, you have no need to stand your ground. You are no Edna Griffin, we have happily served you. No one has hurt you, no one has burned your house down, no one arrested you or beaten you bloody. Stop crying black girl, colored girl, Negro. You’re working my patience now and bruising my ego. 

Stop telling me to stop crying, and start asking me why. Why i have so many tears falling from my eyes. Ask me about the comments, i hear everyday. Ask about how it feels to hear what the say. Ask about the feeling of being turned away and prejudged before I have had any say. Ask me about the time I was told, my nose doesn’t belong to my family of old, that my hair was too much and my skin was so dark they wouldn’t be able to guess the color that our children could be. Is this what it feels like to be free? To be judged by my character and not the color of my skin, please tell me what soap opera I am in, cause i die everyday as i hear of the shootings, the raping, the simple traffic stops. You wonder why I am afraid, I wonder how can I not. Why do my tears, hurt you so much? Why are you afraid that I will stand up, and speak out, and do something about the history that hasn’t actually changed as much as you think. Step in my shoes, you won’t like it very much, I don’t need to stop crying, I need to speak up. Keep your water, your books and your lunch date, I ate before i came. The bridge still needs to be crossed, marches marched and pain acknowledged. I will take my Pride and I will take my power and with them I will stand the top of every tower and say out loud, the work is NOT DONE, The battle is not won. Open your ears and you will hear the cries, of Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers. Now is the time to Cry out!  Speak up black girl, speak up black boy, woman, man, and do whatever you can. Our history is now becoming our present and future we must no longer remain silent because Now is the time to cry. For tomorrow we must rise up and get to work.