White Walls
In todays society there are several things that are passed
over by everyone that claims to be helping. There are compromises made by the
ones who are struggling and there are complaints by those who aren’t.
As Jamaican and Irish I am passed over; either as a black,
and African American, a Hispanic, and several other names. This happens to me
on the street, in the classroom, by teachers, peers and standardized tests that
confuse me and make me feel guilty when I want to check other, but then decide
against it because I don’t want to make a big deal of anything. Then you might
say that it is my fault because I let myself be past over, but that is what our
society has come to, letting our selves be passed over because it is what is to
be expected. However it’s hard to kick a habit that has been imposed on us at
birth.
We compromise, and yes I say we because it isn’t just me. We
say that it’s okay because I know that I don’t want to stand out, but I also
don’t want to blend in, I might not have been born in my home countries, and as
a mutt I should sit down and accept what has been handed to me, but its even
harder when you are two. I'm the mix between to things and got the better of
neither of them. I’m the unhappy bridge that has resulted from the mixture of
two things. One happier then the other, one more fucked up then the other. I
turn and sit back against the glass window where all I can see is myself, and
all I can see is everyone else and I wonder how many other people are being
passed over.
Being passed over in race, sexuality, gender. Being passed
over for this reason or that, for the color, texture, and length of our hair.
Our smile, our eyes, height, and skin color.
In a world, in a country, that is becoming one color it
becomes harder and harder for us to stand out and yet.
Audre Lorde. A woman who before she spoke anything in public
would list all of the things that she was. She would list them and have no
cares for what someone thought about her. Why can’t we all be like her?
Because we are afraid. We are afraid of being judged for
what we have to say. We are afraid that maybe someone else’s issue will be
worse then ours, so we pipe down and let someone else take the floor and speak
on what they believe is the best or the worst thing that they have to say.
The rest of us crumble in silence, rallying behind something
that we don’t understand but feel like we should understand.
We crumble in silence unaware that the person next to us
might be feeling the same way that we are, that they might be having the same
struggle that we are. Being passed over. Being left in a world where the color
of a Starbucks cup gets precedent over everything else.
Hello, I am Destiny Kennedy. Woman. Jamaican. Irish.
Pan-sexual. Shield. And passed over.
Audre Lorde.
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