Is it selfish to want to matter,
To want to want to live to see your family another day?
Don’t know if that is greed, but all I do know is that nothing in this world is guaranteed.
Is it selfish to want justice
For all those lives lost from police brutality?
Well, here is the reality:
Nothing has changed…
For the past 60+ years the treatment of African Americans is the same,
Discrimination and hatred, well who is to blame?
Maybe it’s the police and their corrupt power causing people to be harmed,
Or maybe it’s the victims
Who must have done something to “provoke the law,”
Even if countless video tapes catch them unarmed.
Is it selfish to call on every American to fight,
For what’s just and right?
Because what about us?
What about those who have faced prejudice in the past and know what it’s like to constantly
Fail and fall,
When living in a country who claims “liberty and justice for all?”
If I’m pro-black, I’m anti-police. Is that the way it goes?
Because I thought we were supposed to seek help from the ones in black and blue clothes.
Is it selfish to want protection from those sworn to protect?
Because I don’t feel shielded. It’s funny, I see them more as a threat.
Is it selfish to ask the academy to see the error of their ways?
Because without admitting there’s a problem,
The solution is 110% delayed.
Why is it that a nation has to be so divided?
We need to see the truth.
How are people so blinded,
To the fact that we need repercussions and protocols,
Instead of an empty excuse?
Maybe people would start feeling love instead of abuse.
Is it selfish to want to matter?
Because I want to matter.
I want the lives of my brothers and sisters to matter,
And just so everyone knows
#BLACKLIVESMATTER

“You who believe! show integrity for the sake of Allah, bearing witness with justice. Do not let hatred for a people incite you into not being just. Be just. That is closer to taqwa. Fear [and respect] Allah. Allah is aware of what you do.” (Surat al-Maida, 8)

By Maryam Mohamed