afraid of the dark,
they proclaimed
we were not human;
called us savages,
broke us in as slaves;
turned us into Black Sambo Mammy Zip Coon
Jim Crow Aunt Jemima Uncle Ben
Trayvon Martin Michael Brown Tamir Rice Malissa Williams
and Timothy Russell niggers--
that criminal element
to be feared;
turned us into "those people."

afraid of the dark.
what is really happening
when police handcuff
a five year old little black school girl?
who do they think they see
when they force
an eight month pregnant black woman
onto the ground to arrest her?

afraid of the dark,
they turned
us
into their black nightmare;
the menace they see
in the eyes staring back at them
reflected in the mirror of their own

hearts ...