“I am a man, I am a father, I am a son”

I haven’t the exclusivity of privilege to survive.

 

I am white in a dominant society,

I live by an easy means,

I walk into the street and feel no threat,

I was taught to be a decent man.

I am a teacher who stands in front of watchful eyes.

 

When society breaks down,

we speak out loud, our anxieties revealed,

sentiments explained,

theories and judgments

find strength in the fear in our eyes.

 

There is a man stands before me,

holds conversation

smiles, uses eye contact, understands

we all seem to have a common language.

yet this is only a moment in this man’s life.

 

I can’t walk into someone else’s home,

I am unable to understand anxiety

I do concern myself with my own needs,

I haven’t had to respond to his needs,

I cannot imagine living his life.

 

The media speaks out with pure abandon,

there isn’t a riot occurring in studio,

the cameras record the voices, faces, theories,

their job is over when they too become unplugged,

yet … in the meantime, life continues

 

I heard this man describe himself the other day,

the words he believed,

the society in which he does exist,

the people around him that he certainly does love,

I realized ‘love’ has no boundary.

 

I want to figure out how to teach the world,

we have such opportunity to share ideals,

I want to stop the tears and begin the smiles,

I know it is an idealistic desire,

we are all part of the human condition

 

There is no room for exclusivity.