Call 911 with urgency
A black man sleeping in his car
That’s parked within my passageway
I can’t allow him there to stay
Police come quick from where you are
I’m scared. It’s an emergency
The net result, I’m sad to tell,
Was Rayshard Brooks, an unarmed black
While being cuffed, resisted, ran
Not trusting cops, no black man can,
The cop then shot him in the back
And kicked him dying where he fell
The officer, one Garrett Rolfe
Was charged, for killing Brooks, with murder
That is unusual, I must say
Would not have been, in prior days
They’d let Rolfe free for months and further
Before he’s tried, where he’d get off
Was this unique? The answer’s no
Cop prejudice is no surprise
They’re human like the rest of us
They act within the white man’s trust
Their prejudice some can’t disguise
And murder blacks where e’er they go
It happened near a century back
A massacre of Black Wall Street
Successful businesses of blacks
Were looted, razed, white-mob attacks
Not just in Tulsa, we’re blacks beat
Throughout the country black attacks
‘Though nine and ninety years have passed
Strong feelings anti black persist
Especially among those who
Are drawn to what policemen do
Where under stress they manifest
In tragedy, shades of the past
It’s good that cities o’er the land
Are working on police reform
And Congress may pass laws on cops
For prejudicial acts to stop
But since racism is the norm
It will take more to even hands
6/19/20
The incident with Rayshard Brooks could have ended much differently. He didn’t need to die. The same is true of George Floyd and so many others. It’s way past time to make changes, and it starts in each heart.
It starts in the heart, like you said but it takes action