I was black growing up in an all-white neighborhood so I felt like I just didn't fit in. Like I wasn't as good as everybody else or as smart, or whatever.
quote by Halle Berry
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Related quotes
Why? Why? Why?
if you're a white man
walking through a black neighborhood,
do you feel nervous?
why?
if you're the only black family
living in a white neighborhood,
do you feel isolated?
why?
and why do we think a poor
black man came from the projects?
and a poor white man
came from the trailer park?
why?
every time you see a Hispanic
family in the grocery store,
do you think 'they're illegals'?
why?
did it ever occur to you that
the people who've programmed you
to think and feel this way....
might have an ulterior motive?
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Growing up, I started developing confidence in what I felt. My parents helped me to believe in myself. I wasn't the best looking guy, I wasn't the best athlete in the world, but they made me feel good about myself.
quote by Herschel Walker
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Church of the Little Drummer Boy
He didn't do it for money,
He didn't to it for power,
It wasn't an inside job,
And he probably wasn't real.
But he wasn't controlled by the Mafia,
Maybe he was just a dream,
Or maybe just a hope,
Of what Christmas might mean.
Over the years many a child
Has heard of the Little Drummer Boy,
How he played his drum for Jesus
To bring the Baby some joy.
He didn't do it to be a big shot,
He wasn't Ginger Baker,
He played out of musical love,
And he wasn't a faker.
If you're looking for religion,
The Drummer Boy is good to go,
I mean, he's as churchy as it gets,
Considering the show.
poem by Richard Jarboe
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Where's my dad?
Growing up without a dad wasn’t so bad.
I mean, You can’t miss what you never had.
It wasn’t until I got a little older
That I felt that soft tap on my shoulder.
That had me looking back on the past
Wondering where my dad was at.
I see my husband with our kids and I
Sometimes blink so that I won’t cry.
As I begin to realize
And start to ask why
I never had a dad to hold my hand
To show me what it’s like to trust a man
To wlk me to school or yell at my games
I’m left incomplete without even his name
I see my daughters with their dad
And start to recognize what I never had
Wondering what he might be like
If his name is Tom, Bobby, Dennis or Mike
Do I look like him?
Would he recognize me?
I wonder if I have his eyes
Or maybe I have his teeth.
What would it have been like to have him around
I wonder what he’d think of me now
I wonder if I’d make him proud
Would he tell me im beautiful and smart?
For his empty mantelpiece I’m his work of art?
Daddy I’ve missed you all these years
I’ve thought about you and shed some tears.
I wish I could have known you
Had you there to tell me what to do
Daddy I wish you were there to hold me
Keep me close, maybe console me.
I wish you had been there to protect me
Hug me kiss me and never reject me.
I know you didn’t know that I longed for you
And maybe you would have found me if you knew
I wonder how it feels to be held in daddy’s arms
Where I could feel safe and far from harm
To have you give me away on my wedding day
With all the words of wisdom I’d hear you say
I missed you on graduation day too
I looked into the stands but didn’t see you
I missed you when my children were born
I keep looking, waiting for you to walk through that door
But you didn’t come because you never knew
And Daddy, wherever you are – just know I love you.
poem by Miss Thang
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Tell Me
Tell me I wasn't true
Tell me I didn't believe in you
Tell me a moment I didn't share
Tell me when I acted like I didn't care
Tell me a moment with me that was hard to bear
Tell me when I was fake
Tell me the time we spent wasn't great
Tell me I wasn't a good friend
Tell me I wouldn't have your back until the end
Tell me I treated you like a child
Tell me a time I couldn't make you smile
Tell me a time I didn't miss you
Tell me I never kissed you
Tell me a time I used you
Tell me a time I abused you
Tell me you're not all I have
Tell me when I didn't speak on your behalf
Tell me when I didn't have your back
What I'm seeing I feel like you're telling me all of that
poem by Daniel Chapman
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The Obviousness Of The Evidence Shown
Throughout my life...
And others who could attest to my sentiments.
I have had others who believed they knew me.
To say that I wasn't 'that' enough for 'their' liking.
Can you imagine?
As if I was born to prove to them...
My life and efforts were on a rating scale.
To please their whims and noninvolvements.
Or that I wasn't a 'real' this to claim that,
But to be just what they said I 'was' or wasn't.
To demean any attempts I made in anything...
I 'wanted' to do to get done.
And the color of my skin,
Had a lot to do with that too.
Oh...
I got it from both sides of the fence.
With some painful comments,
Forever to be remembered.
Or I thought I was better than others.
I like that one!
Because I spoke to have others understand,
What it was I was saying.
I spoke too clearly.
LOL...
Seriously.
I have actually had people tell me that.
I wish I was joking but I am not.
I was told I spoke as if I was a caucasian.
As if I wanted to be!
A black boy living in a black neighborhood.
With black friends and surrounded by blackness.
Or...
Check this out!
If I really wanted to do what I wanted to do,
I'd move and go somewhere else.
Because 'they' weren't going to allow me,
To do what I wanted to do in the place I was born.
Uh...
Excuse?
Are you looking for an exit sign?
Because I am not.
Well...
Thank God I didn't allow their comments,
To ruin my ambitions.
Like others they have done with a doing,
Who bought into that kind of evilness...
To achieve exactly what the obviousness,
Of the evidence shown as proof of 'their' doings.
Not mine!
My wishes and dreams are not to be limited!
Period.
With an exclamation!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Didnt Know
Didn't know what you had
Until you lost it
Didn't know what you own
Until you got it
Didn't know of your sins
Until you fought it.
Didn't know what you needed
Until you sought it.
Didn't know your lies
Until someone spoke them
Didn't know of the truth
Until someone wrote them
Didn't remembered your dreams
Until someone awoke them
Didn't know they died
Until someone chocked them.
Didn't know you had guilt
Until you cried
Didn't know you felt sadness
Until you tried to hide
Didn't know you felt shame
Until you lied
Didn't know you believed in GOD
Until you asked him why.
Didn't know you felt sorrow
Until you shed a tear
Didn't know that you were scared
Until I saw your fear
Didn't know that you hated
Until you were near
Didn't know that you were unhappy
Until you looked in a mirror.
Didn't know who you truly were
Until your ways you sewed
Didn't know that you were evil
Until the truth was showed
Didn't know you did this before
Until I saw all of your woe
Didn't know who you really were
Though I wished then I did know.
Randy L. McClave
poem by Randy McClave
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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In Germany, they first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Catholic. Then they came for me -- and by that time there was nobody left to speak up.
quote by Martin Niemller
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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You know, I don't play the race card a lot. I'm half-black, half-white, and I'm proud of - my skin is brown. The world sees me as a black man, but my mother didn't raise me as a black man. She didn't raise me as a white guy.
quote by Shemar Moore
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Black and White (Stream XV)
I have black thoughts,
It is a black day,
A day when the black dog
Coal black, hovers at my shoulder.
I shoulder the burden.
Deep in the black hole.
Black as a black hearted night.
Negative.
Stark.
Black and white.
I do not call my good days white days.
Why?
Or have white thoughts
On a white day,
When the white dog
Pure white sits upon my shoulder.
Which is unburdened.
Out of the pit,
Luxuriating in the bright white light;
White as the purest snow.
Positive.
For we live in a too white world
Maybe we should have grey days,
And light days.
Why should Black be negative and White poitive?
For me then, today is a grey day.
Maybe tomorrow will be a light day.
Copyright P H Brookes 2012
poem by Paul Brookes
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So Good
Hey how ya doin yeah I'm doin mighty fine Last time I think it's been a long time Stop smilin at me get that look off your face Please don't even front stop being so fake I know you do not like me yeah you made that really clear You're always talkin'bout me from what I hear Always turn me down when you thought that you could I want you to know that im doin so good. Wasn't it you that said I thought I was all that and you said I didn't have a clue Wasn't it you that said that I wouldn't make it through Wasn't it you that said that I didn't look too good that I wouldn't do too good I'd never make it out the hood I want you to know that im doin so good I know you hate it I'm doin so so so so
song performed by by Destiny's Child from The Writing's On The Wall
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Integration is a man's ability to want to move in there by himself. If someone wants to live in a white neighborhood and he is black, that is his choice. It should be his rights. It is not because white people will not allow him.
quote by Stokely Carmichael
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Pure
Don't you bring me down
Kick me when I'm down
Put me away again
Every now and then
Your bottle spinning my fate
As I hold my breath
And so you don't want any part of this now
Where did it go so wrong
I guess I'm finally finding out
It's got me tripping now
The little things, everywhere I go
It's such a shame
Why you held on, so long
Why don't you confuse me a little more?
Confuse me
And I never thought that you
Who would believe that I wasn't good enough?
Those things I never thought you'd do
You got the best of me
You got the best of me when you said you didn't love me anymore
And I know, this will be the last time
You've got me running in circles like a freak
So why don't you try to, kick me when I'm down
I'm down, all the way down
Put me away again
Every now and then
Your bottle spinning my fate
While I hold my breath
Don't sweat the lies that you say I control
Confuse me a little more
[Confuse me]
And I never thought that you
Who would believe that I wasn't good enough?
Those things I never thought you'd do
You got the best of me
You and all your secrets don't need me
You got the best of me when you said you didn't love me anymore
And I know this will be the last time
You've got me, running in circles like a freak
So why don't you try to, kick me when I'm down
I'm down
So when you say you've let me go, let me go
'Cause you didn't care about this, sorry you
I guess you'll be alright
Now that you've got things to go your way
How could you be like this?
This is the last time but you don't hear me though
You got the best of me, when you said you didn't love me anymore
And I know, this will be the last time
You've got me running in circles like a freak
So why don't you try to, kick me when I'm down
I don't understand the way
That you're thinking, thinking, thinking, Andrea
Who could believe that I wasn't good enough?
Who could believe that I wasn't good enough?
Confuse me a little more
Who could believe that I wasn't good enough?
Who could believe that I wasn't good enough?
song performed by by Orgy
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Black and White and Red
Black and White
And Red I see
Demons they do
Torture me
Black and White
And Red all day
The voices are real
Or so they say
Black and White
And Red abound
I'm lost I call
I'm never found
Black and White
And Red flow out
I scream but you
Don't hear me shout
Black and White
And Red so bright
Exit blood and
Enter light
Black and White
And Red of death
Now I breathe
My final breath
poem by Anonymous Ghurl
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I Aint Superstitious
(willie dixon)
Aint superstitious,
Black cat crossed my trail.
I aint superstitious,
But a black cat crossed my trail.
Bad luck aint got me so far,
And I wont let it stop me now.
The dogs begin to bark,
All over my neighborhood.
And that aint all.
Dogs begin to bark,
All over my neighborhood.
Mmm-mmm
This is a mean old world to live in,
And I cant face it all by myself, at all.
And, dogs begin to bark,
All over my neighborhood.
The dogs begin to bark,
All over my neighborhood.
I got a feelin about the future,
And it aint too good, I know that.
I know, I know, I know.
Aint superstitious,
But black cat crossed my trail,
(I said it so many times before)
Aint superstitious,
A black cat crossed my trail.
Bad luck aint got me so far,
And you know I aint gonna let it stop me now.
Come on.
song performed by by Rod Stewart
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Target
Uptown - downtown
No ones fussy Im a target
Black, white - day, night
No ones fussy Im a target
Somebody say Im crazy
Walking in this neighborhood
Say you cant be too careful
But that wont do no good
Im no one special
But any part of town
Someone could smile at me then
Shake my hand then gun me down
Uptown - downtown
No ones fussy Im a target
Black, white - day, night
No ones fussy Im a target
Somebody say Im crazy
Living in this crazy town
I say maybe youre just lazy
Got to either swim or drown
I know what Im doing
Im happy day to day
But then something happens
Takes my nerve away
Uptown - downtown
No ones fussy Im a target
Black, white - day, night
No ones fussy Im a target
song performed by by Joe Jackson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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However, I wasn't very good at the sciences, or didn't have a lot of help in the sciences or something but certainly didn't set science for my A level. And when I came to take my A levels I didn't get a good enough result to go to University.
quote by Jeremy Irons
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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My thinking had been opened up wide in Mecca. I wrote long letters to my friends, in which I tried to convey to them my new insights into the American black man's struggle and his problems as well as the depths of my search for truth and justice. I've had enough of someone else's propaganda, I had written to these friends. I am for truth, no matter who tells it. I am for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I am a human being first and foremost, and as such I'm for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole. The American white man's press called me the angriest Negro in America. I wouldn't deny that charge; I spoke exactly as I felt. I believe in anger. I believe it is a crime for anyone who is being brutalized to continue to accept that brutality without doing something to defend himself. I am for violence if non-violence means that we continue postponing or even delaying a solution to the American black man's problem. White man hates to hear anybody, especially a black man, talk about the crime that the white man perpetrated on the black man. But let me remind you that when the white man came into this country, he certainly wasn't demonstrating non-violence.
Malcolm X in The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I Feel A Rising
What I say to you,
Seems to be big news...
In-the-neighborhood.
I didn't think it true.
You...
Whisper in ears too.
I...
Couldn't believe you would.
I...I...
Wouldn't believe you could.
I...I...
Couldn't believe you would.
I...I...
What I say to you,
Seems to be big news...
In-the-neighborhood.
I didn't think it true.
You...
Whisper in ears too.
Why?
Why?
You come and go as you please,
And say...
Not,
A word to me.
Why?
Why?
Why?
You've got my heart wrapped up,
In some kind of beating hold.
I can't from you let go!
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why I let you torcher me...
Emotionally?
Why?
Why do I feel you needing?
Why is your heat so close to me?
You've got my heart wrapped up,
In some kind of beating hold.
I can't from you let go!
Why do I feel you needing?
Why is your heat so close to me?
What I say to you,
Seems to be big news...
In-the-neighborhood.
I didn't think it true.
You...
Whisper in ears too.
Why is that heat I feel on me...
Feel so good.
Why does that heat on me...
Feel good.
What is that heat?
Why is that heat I feel on me...
Feel so good.
Why does that heat on me...
Feel good.
What is that heat?
What we do,
Seems to be big news.
In,
The neigborhood.
Why is that heat I feel on me...
Feel so good.
Why does that heat on me...
Feel good.
What is that heat?
I feel a rising hypnotized...
By your heat.
Yes...
By
Your
Heat.
Yes...
I feel a rising,
By your heat.
I feel a rising.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Grey Areas: Revised
they think and teach you
that black is black and white is white
that either you are moral or immoral
that either you leave or stay
that either you die or live
that there are only choices of
either/or
they tell you do not do this
do not do that
do only this and that
they prohibit you and tell you
it is for your own good
as though they are gods
and you are the dogs
an old man with bright eyes
asks me to go near him
and he says: try the middle of things
it is not just black or white but
there are shades and shades of choices
in between
in there everything is allowed.
the grey areas. the exceptions. the exemptions.
try them. they are all exciting. like the colors of the rainbow
like the patches of red, and orange and blue and pink
you see, who is telling you that there are no other colors
than black and white?
i am neither good nor bad.
In truth, i am just myself.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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