One day I want to wake up and see a different world
Where we treat the people and places like a rare pearl
Where Black lives do matter, Where skin tone isn’t a factor
Where hair patterns don’t cause internal disasters
My body, her body, their body is respected
No need to protest and march for simple protection
No need to wave signs in the air
No need to act like Solange and tell you don’t touch my hair
We wouldn’t have to give our grandma money for groceries
because our community would flow with currency
We could have nice houses and parks like the affluent neighborhoods
If we were given careers, dismissing the preconceived notions we’re just bums up to no good
En Vogue said, “free your mind!”
The UNCF said, “a mind is a terrible thing to waste”
No student should worry about college expenses on their graduation date
No school will close to satisfy gentrification
Another clinic will be built to deal with his and her hallucination
One day I want to wake up and see justice
One day I want to wake up and simply exist,
no separation, no fear for being us
Kelsey Stone is a journalist from the South Side, growing up between Bronzeville and the Hundreds. He began his journalism career as an intern at Uptown Magazine and from there wrote for several publications, including Ebony Magazine. He recently released a poetry book, The Sirens: Poetry Inspired by the South Side of Chicago, which is available on blurb.com and Apple iBooks. This is his first piece for the Weekly.