One day as I stand on the porch
I want to take off my shoes
in the cool
weather and start running,

Air blows on my face
And my steady pace
has my hair flying back
and I sweat so much that
my two pigtails turn into ruff
afro puffs and I keep running.

I hear the howls of dogs
and I trip but don’t fall
and I don’t turn around for the white man’s call
I keep running.

Feeling whips across my body
And salt water poured over me
on the deck, looking at the sea,
wondering how the trip back to Allah must be,
but sooner or later,
I keep running.

My identity is lost
and white folks waive me for a cost,
and they rename me Anne,
and I sold to a new toubab (white) man,
And I keep running.

Picking in the fields,
missed meals,
and praying for the strength for the will to kill,
so that I can keep running.

Poorer than white folks,
And they say that I have no right to vote,
and I have to use things with “colored” labels,
whether it’s the bathroom, fountain, or lunch tables,
and I keep running.

I turn to Malcolm X and listen,
but all he’s doing is dissin,
I turn to Martin Luther King,
Who speaks of coming together and dreams,
Both assassinated by rival human beings,
no hope has sprung yet,
I keep running.

An explosion in the church and I’m running outside,
While four little black girls are inside,
Horrible sights of lost lives,
And millions of cries,
And for the girls,
I keep running.

My brothers are killing each other,
Over a color,
Hatred over something none of them created,
And for these clowns,
I keep running.

My black people can’t succeed,
Because they smoke so much weed,
Amazing that their eyes don’t turn green,
From being a weed fiend,
And drug dealing,
Leads to killing
Over a smoke,
That makes U choke,
When U catch it back in your throat,
And for these young ones,
I keep running.

Ignoring what your ancestors,
Have been through,
U tend to,
Lend a helping hand,
To the white man’s plan,
Who’s having no frustration,
Cause we’re slowly wiping off the nation,
And for my ancestors,
I keep running.