Borrowed from my neighborhood,
the skills of being men.
While in the shadows of personhood
the majority and minority's blend.

Hidden beneath the obvious,
where the soul of man resides,
the rages of bitter consequence
holds pride for it's eyes.

Strong enough to bear,
the infamous weight of hate.

Stronger still to survive,
in the shadows of social debate.
The insidous effects of a history,
deluded, corupt and immoral.

The secret we hide in it's presence;
is always just a wink away.

The misery of knowing our history,
as Americans and human beings;
is that the racism we see our enemy
is not foreign or newly born.

The hatred we read our history is not
dead or evened out.
The hatred we read in
our history is still what we are all about.
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Understand that the images that flash
in our consciousness do not spring from
some vacuum without influence.

They color the "truths" as defined
by the people that shape our world.
When we become adults we can take charge
of those images and impulses.
When we begin to realize that not all the lessons we
learned in our youth are worth saving we begin to redefine
our "truth."

Redefine your truth.
Don't deny that we are all more alike then not.