WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE BLACK?

Well first of all I’m caramel butterscotch.
So I know when people ask me if I’m “Black” they aren’t asking about my skin.
And after careful analysis the term “Black” is more of a socially based racial classification related to being African-American.
But wait a minute!
My mother is from St. Kitts and Nevis and my father is from Puerto Rico.
Both coming straight outta the Caribbean,
so I identify as Spanish Afro-Caribbean American.
Neither of my parents ever stepped a foot onto Africa,
so how am I African-American?
If we the Human race came outta Africa originally then technically we are all African Americans!
I dunno, maybe I can’t wrap my head around it.
I mean I know I’m not just “Black” because there is more to me than just a color.
If anything, I’m just a human being 100% all the way.
But this issue has been around way longer than it needs to be.
Hmm maybe that’s the reason.
This societal conundrum of racial labels has outlived its usefulness and needs to die!
Indeed, that is the best answer!
Just look at how we solved our past issues through the death of anybody and anything
through war that has stood in our way of growth.
But I digress.
What does it really mean to be “Black?”
Will I only be able to celebrate my “Blackness” one month out of the year?
Will I be more wanted to take residency in any private institutionalized prison?
Will I still believe that one optimistic day in the U.S. I will receive 40 acres and a mule?
What if I decided NOT to be “Black?” (which I can’t do)
Will people stop assuming I’m nice at basketball?
Will law enforcement pause to pull the trigger on me?
Will microaggressions not affect me as much?
I wish I was able to google the answers to my questions
because then I will have an Idea of what it means to be “Black.”

C) 2015 MARCO SOULO

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