The following piece was given to us by Ma’at. When I first read this piece I was so in tune with it that all of the other noises in the background of my mind needed to be silenced. I truly hope that this piece engages us in a discourse about not only our current reality but the change which we wish to see within our reality. Peace and Grace be unto you!

THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE

Rags to riches
Foreigner
Outsider to Inside
American Society
American Money
American Riches
The American Dream
Business Man
Drug Dealer
Hustler
Lawyer
Me…
See I
I too started off
Young
Hungry
Driven
Hustling
Toward the dream
My American Dream…… Esq.
So I did what anyone…everyone chasing the American Dream does
I hustled
Made those connects
Studied the greats…
The great hustlers….

Walked softly…. watched, listened, emulated
Worked my way through the system
The American system
Day in and Day out
Climbing the ladder
Shaking hands
Negotiating
Until
Until the party life…..got me
Addicted
Addicted to status
This little brown girl from Church Ave.. now regarded by society as a
member of an elite….
Better than you
Better than most
Damn that shit feels good
The high
The power..
It’s addictive
I’m penetrating you
Deeply, hard, long….
Now all you can do is say my name and hope you feel me tomorrow
How could I not fall in lust?
How could I not keep coming back?
Knowing it was starting to kill me…..

Yeah…the American Dream
My American Nightmare
Time moves….
PAUSE
I look around….I
Is this what success is all about
A bunch of bitches acting like bitches with big mouths
I’M LIVING THE AMERICAN DREAM
AND YOU KNOW WHAT,……. ITS FUCKED UP
I live a life where I am a part of a machine that rapes my people
Rapes my mind
Bleaches my spirit
Makes “America” Rich
How fitting?
How fitting that the dream in this country
A COUNTRY BUILT ON THE PRINCIPLES OF DESTROYING WHAT MUST BE DESTROYED
FOR PERSONAL GAIN
Would idealize a life that destroys those who live it for the gain of
those in power
The essence of a Hustler’s Spirit….

WAKE UP!!!!

THE LIES
By Ma’at

Fuck this country so hard it bleeds the wealth and prosperity of your forefathers
Inseminate your mind with limitless understanding and watch your seeds grow
The revolution will not come easily but it will come
Over and over again until
New birth
A new age
This county was built with on the foundation of REVOLUTION!!!

Hypocrites!!
Each framer more faced then the last
But at the core of their new country…..
“ We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility,…… and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity,”
Our being white male slave owners…..
Not there white wives
Not their male nigger slaves
And sure as hell not fucking me
I was good enough to rape
My security taken from me, after my husband was taken from me, my father taken from me, my children taken from me… he took the only thing he knew I still had that he could physically take

Surprise Mother fucker
My spirit is stronger than you can imagine
My back forged with the strength of generations of matriarchs, kings, queens, family, unity
You can not take my legacy
It runs through my veins, my children’s veins, my children’s children’s

WORDS
written by the lovely Ma’at

Words mean nothing
everything
Confined by the speaker
Writer
Audience
Perception

In Spoken form
Words Cause your ears to Bleed
They call you a Nigger
Bitch
Boy
They deleted your past from your present through Spoken Word
Taught you to love his Word and forget your own
They took your language so you lost your power
Power to speak
Power to communicate
Power to grow as a people

In Written Form
Words are a weapon
Blinding light, truth, way
Don’t read!!!
Remain, Ignorant to our reality
Our reality as Black people in America
Black people in the world
Stricken with poverty, beaten, crippled
Our women raped of their womanhood
Our men raped of their manhood
Our children raped of their innocence
Emancipate yourself from mental slavery
Words…..
the key to your freedom
Do not be a slave to your vocabulary

Today’s piece is not written by myself. I came across this piece via a very inspiring young woman who is committed to bridging truth and words to make profound statements that speak to communities of color. I hope you enjoy, I know I did!

Where black people meet the law?
by Ma’at

Where black people meet the law?
Where a single mother gets evicted from her apartment…
Because Bill, Bob and Dick moved in upstairs
Mary, Jane, and Sue moved in downstairs
And now her property value rises too high for her meager earning

Where the long are of the law shoves a hollow gun against the temple of a black man while shouting
“YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT”
Right?

Where basketball player signs a contract that gives his lawyer 40% when Mr. Esq. knows he should only get 10%
Where a 6 year old boy watches his mother sue his father for child support
He stares into a strangers brown eyes and wonders how that face could look just like his
Where a PO meets the guilty till proven innocent…..
Until innocent become guilty
Filthy
Right-less
Less than
Three fifths of a person
3/5ths of the men in prison
Yall though when slavery ended we became more than 3/5ths?

I’ll tell you where we don’t meet
We don’t meet in Law School
In a world where knowledge of the law provide the tools through the confines of this so called “JUSTICE SYSTEM”
SYSTEM yes
JUSTICE…it depends
Depends on who defends the rights you though you had
You don’t have shit…
Pause
You have what your lawyer knows (minus) your ignorance (minus) his ignorance (times) each previous charge
(Equals)… it depends

I walk into class my first day of class
The room filled with pink faces
Folks who see the world in black and white without the black
Issues in black and white, without the black
My blood pressure rises as a privileged woman raises her hand and implies that all black men who are not in suits are thugs
My brother is a thug…
My nephew is a thug……..
Where black people meet the law………

Where do black people meet the law?
In Us.. Law Students
Us… the privileged few with the knowledge to change
Educate
Inform
Inspire to rebuild that which has been done