Target On My Back

I can’t live with a target on my back.
It’s no longer “hands up don’t shoot.”
The higher my hands don’t stop the bullets.
The lighter my skin don’t stop the stares.
These targets don’t fade.
It’s open season.
The news stations love showing savages.
The cause at hand ignored.
Only the negative captured in the camera lens.
The message is freedom.
The fight is for justice.
You’re distracted by the word riot.
You’re distracted from the target on my back.
Can’t you see the anger?
Frustrated the value of my life is zero.
We are treated as nothing.
Can’t you see the suffering?
A mother burying her son.
A baby that will never know their parent.
All because of that target on their back.
A target that will never be erased.
Only change can make that diminish.
The only way we can change is if you acknowledge the target on my back.

-Asia Aneka Anderson, Target On My Back 2015©