i don't think some you will never know
but attempt to understand
because i've seen my mother on cotton fields
i've seen my father on the cotton fields

i've seen my mother back on the fields after she thought she was done
i've seen my father rebuilding the South with shackles on his feet and wrists

i've seen my mother running to the north, to the west from terror
i've seen my father hanging from a tree
or a bridge
or burned at a carnival
or whipped on a stage in a field
mutilated
bloodied
dead

i've seen my mother on the back of the bus, riding to a big house
to take care of their children
where the children call her by her first name
no "Miss"
no "Ma'am"
just her first name
i've seen my father doing yard work at that big house
"yes Miss"
"yes Ma'am"

i've seen my mother sterilized without her knowledge nor her consent
i've seen my father denied the right to vote
after being asked to name every county judge in the state

i've seen my mother's clothes being ripped off by the hoses
i've seen my father being ripped off the stool at the "whites only" counter
neither of them fighting back
for if they did
that would be the end of them both

i've seen my little sister shot in the back of the head over orange juice
i've seen my father beaten with a metal baton 58 times

my mother's head was slammed into the pavement after failing to use her turn signal
my father couldn't breathe

my mother was shot
protect and serve
my father was shot
protect and serve

i see me on fields
in shackles
hanged
on the backs of buses
sterilized
brutalized for protesting
brutalized for living
i've been shot
protect and serve

so i don't think some you will never know
but attempt to understand
we all see our mothers
our fathers
our siblings
ourselves
and it's exhausting

it's enraging

set yourselves aside for just one moment
and see us

see how we see ourselves.