Not Today

I will not be manipulated by your lies today. For it has been too long since I have heard the truth from your mouth. Too many times, you have conned me out of my hard-earned money and provided me with false promises of success. You told me that this amount of money and education would lead me down a path of prosperity. Only to discover, that path dropped me off at a dead end. Now, I must re-trace my steps to keep from falling.

Today, I will not listen to your ignorant ideologies on why I will never achieve my dreams. You have told me that it is impossible to achieve my dreams because I aim too high and I need to aim low. I am not the type of person that aims low because aiming low means that I am afraid to fail. Did you know that failure is how you succeed? I would have never known that if I would have aimed low.

I will not listen to your claims for why I am not qualified to be employed. You say that my educational background does not fit the job needs, nor do I have the necessary experience. I wonder why someone never told that to our current president of the United States? Oh, I forgot, we hold different expectations for people of other ethnicities. You say that my skills are not well equipped for this job. You’re right. For I feel my qualifications exceeds your job requirements. Therefore, I am more an asset instead of a necessity.

Today, I will not let you determine my self-worth. I am not a number that you can gamble. You can’t price a person that is destined for success. For this person has been highly favored by her maker. As far as I am concerned, you can’t afford me. I will not let you deem me as a person who is unintelligent all because I could not pass a test. A test that you created for me and others who look like me to fail.

I will not let your institutional racism or unconscious bias be the reason why I do not succeed. I cannot control the melanin in my skin. My dark melanin should not allow you to make false judgments about me. I know you fear me, but I can’t help you on that situation. I can only show you the greatness that my maker has provided me with. These systems have been in place for decades and has shredded individuals who look like me to pieces, but today, I will no longer tolerate this systematic racism.

We live in a time where we judge others based on our own standards. Have you stopped to ask yourself that your standards are based off fears? Your hair is too nappy, you can’t work with us. The institutions you attended are not deemed high achieving because of the ethnicities that attend. You are too dark, which means that your ancestors were slaves. You are not smart because of the job you work or because you haven’t achieved a certain level of education. Where you live is not good enough for us to have social gatherings. From this moment on, your standards mean nothing to me. If you do not consider me worthy, no problem, I will make myself worthy. If you think that I am unqualified, I will make myself qualified to meet my expectations. I wonder, are you afraid that I will over exceed your expectations? Well, it does not matter because as of today, you are no longer allowed to impose your uninformed/unenlightened expectations upon me. (Drops mic.)