I sit in your class

I play by the rules

I’m young

I’m fly

I’m black.

So of course I think I’m cool.

Geometry is my thing,

Physics is just a breeze.

So it bothered me last week

When you said I should be happy with that C.

You know,

I’ve been wondering lately,

Trying to figure out just how it could be

That you’re around me so often

And still don’t know a thing about me.

You

See me on TV,

Marching in the band,

Then you flick the channel

And there I am again,

Cuffs on my hands,

A coat over my head,

The news anchor warning that I’m someone you should dread.

The police say I’m a menace,

That you should be on the alert.

The nightly news recounts all the people they say I’ve hurt.

The mayor says I’m a threat,

Psychologists call me depressed,

Bloggers can’t figure out what’s up with me, so they make up all the rest.

You know,

I’ve been wondering lately,

Trying to figure out just how it could be

That you can see me so often

And still don’t know a thing about me.

I live next door to you,

You see me on the bus.

Sometimes you even tell me just be quiet, child— hush.

Then I’m out with my boys—

Two, five, or even ten—

It’s funny when that happens, you don’t seem to know me then.

I’m just another black boy,

A threatening, scary sight.

A tall, black, eerie shadow

Moving toward you late at night.

You know,

I’ve been wondering lately,

Trying to figure out just how it could be

That you could talk to me so often

And still not know a thing about me.

We hang on the corner together,

Holding up the wall,

I tell you about my dreams,

You just wanna talk basketball.

I pull out my plans

Detailing the cities I’ll rebuild one day,

Swearing

That people will know my name across the USA.

You tell me to quit fronting,

You ask who I think I am,

Pretending

That I’m better than you know I really am.

You talk about my house, The clothes I wear sometimes,

Then you really hit me with what’s been on your mind.

You know,

I’ve been wondering lately,

Trying to figure out just how it could be

That we call each other brother,

And you still don’t know a thing about me.

Last night I had a dream

I flew right past the stars.

No one was holding their pocketbooks,

Or double-locking cars.

I chatted with the moon,

Calculated the circumference of the sun.

Then right before I awoke

I decided to take a run.

I ran across the Milky Way,

Stole a peek at Saturn’s ring,

Hip-hopped across the Universe.

I was me.

I could do anything,

So I dived into a million black holes,

Rested my feet on the north and south poles.

Slipped into my mother’s dreams,

My daddy’s nightmares, too.

We talked about my future and the great things that I will do.

But dreams don’t last forever

And night turns into day,

Where people who don’t even know you

Try to block tomorrow’s way.

But nothing can ever stop me,

Keep me

From what’s mine.

The stars

On fire

Inside me

Shining

Refining

Reminding

Me

That only I define me

And

The brightness of my destiny.