Thoughts, Reflections, and Experiences

This is a legit poem. Thanks, Rupi. Broken English

I'm holding back tears. I'm holding back anger. I'm holding back pain. Why? Because I see the wounds of discrimination, oppression, shaming, and blaming. The wounds of the words and overall implicit (and even often explicit) messages of brown people, my people, as inferior-- less than. I'm probably over-speaking, making too dark (what's the opposite of light) of the situation, but these are raw emotions, right? "I think I just feel inferior," "but we don't have much," "what will people think?" "I'm sorry that I haven't given you much" ... these words hurt... especially because they are spoken as she compares herself to white culture and people. But why the emotions? Why the anger? Because of what this represents. It's not the first time members of my family have felt that way, especially in relation to my white friends. You'd think that it would hurt me less and less to see the shame they feel, the ...