A holy mantra of exhausted rage

I was eleven years old
The first time I protested police brutality
In support of a black man an entire nation away
Savaged by officers while unarmed
The assailants acquitted
Los Angeles exploded
Some changes were made
For a while, things were quiet

Meanwhile, the violence silently escalated
Law enforcement no longer just beats black men and women
They murder them
In front of their own children
(If they aren't themselves children)
As if deadly force
Is the first bullet point in protocol
When interacting with someone of color

We can't go twenty four hours
Without hearing of another man
Taken from his family
In the process of living an ordinary life
And we wonder why there's such distrust

Why don't cities erupt anymore?
Have we become so inured?


Trayvon
Dontre
Eric
Michael
Tamir
Akai
Tanisha
Tony
Walter
Sandra
Freddie
Alton
Philando

Say their names
Be the legacies they cannot
Stop and record
Every encounter you witness between the law
And people of color
May your whiteness protect their brownness
Be brave
Civilly disobey
Repeat their names like a prayer
A holy mantra of exhausted rage
In the faces of men sworn
To protect and serve
Nothing but their own bloodlust