“To Be 17”

“To be given the privilege of a second chance
Many of whom, will never receive
Because death, was only to be served —

And their killers roam free

Pranced upon by a thief in the night
The privilege to indulge in crime and be woken by the mornings light
The innocence of a white boy
The demise of a black “man”
The convenience to be a boy at the expense of the white man
From down south to the midwest,
Mercy is only served to those of the fairest skin

Stripped of his youth
While the other Is offered opportunity and heroic applause

To be viewed as a man
slain in the night

He too, was just 17.”