Slam Poems

Somewhere in America

Here in America, in every single state, they have a set of standards for every subject

A collection of lessons that the teacher's required to teach by the end of the term

But the greatest lessons you'll ever teach us will not come from your syllabus

The greatest lessons you will ever teach us, you will not even remember

You never told us what we weren't allowed to say

We just learned how to hold our tongues

Now somewhere in America, there is a child holding a copy of "Catcher in the Rye" and there is a child holding a gun

But only one of these things have been banned by their state government

And it's not the one that can rip through flesh

It's the one that says "fuck you" on more pages than one

Because we must control what the people say, and how they think

And if they want to become the overseer of their own selves, then we'll show them a real one

And somewhere in America, there's a child sitting at his mother's computer, reading the homepage of the KKK's website, and that's open to the public

But that child will never have read "To Kill a Mockingbird" because the school has banned it for it's use of the "N" word

Maya Angelou is prohibited because we're not allowed to talk about rape in school

We were taught that 'just because something happens, doesn't mean you are to talk about it'

They built us brand new shopping malls so that we'll forget where we're really standing

On the bones of the Hispanics, on the bones of the slaves, on the bones of the Native Americans, on the bones of those who fought just to speak!

Transcontinental Railroad to Japanese Camps

There are things missing from our history books

But we were taught that it is better to be silent, than to make them uncomfortable

Somewhere in America, private school girls search for hours through boutiques, trying to find the prom dress of their dreams

While kids on the south side spending hours searching through the 'lost and found' 'cause winter's coming soon and that's the only jacket they have

Kids are late to class for working the midnight shift

They give awards for best attendance, but not for keeping your family off the streets

These kids will call your music ghetto, they will tell you you don't talk right

Then they'll get in the backseat of a car with all their friends singing ' bout how "They're 'bout that life" and "we can't stop"

Somewhere in America, schools are promoting self confidence

While they whip out their scales and shout out your body fat percentage in class

While heftier girls are hiding away, and the slim fit beauties can't help but giggle with pride

The preppy kids go thrift shopping 'cause they think it sounds real fun

But we don't 'cause that's all we got money for

'Cause momma works for the city, momma only gets paid once a month

Somewhere in America, a girl is getting felt up by a grown man on the subway

She's still in her school uniform and that's part of the appeal

It's hard to run in knee socks and Mary Jane's, and all her male teachers know it too

Coaches cover up the star players raping freshmen after the dance

Women are killed  for rejecting dates, but God forbid I bring my girlfriend to prom

Girls black out drunk at the after party, take a picture before her wounds wake her

How many pixels your sanity worth?

What is a 4.0 to a cold jury?

What'd you learn in class today?

Don't walk fast, don't speak loud, keep your hands to yourself, keep your head down

Keep your eyes on your own paper, if you don't know the answer, fill in "C"

Always wear earbuds when you ride the bus alone

If you feel like someone's following you, pretend you're on the phone

A teacher never fails, only you do

Every state in America, the greatest lessons, are the ones you don't remember learning.

Heyya, me again, just wanted to remind you of how beautiful you are <3
-Roberto 

Credit-The Poet Puff Girls, aka Rhiannon McGavin, Belissa Escobedo and Zariya Allen. Brave New Voices, Los Angeles, GetLit 2014.