Backpacks By Lesle’ Honore’
This poem stopped me.
As a mom, and especially as a mom raising a Black son, these words hit a place in me that is hard to explain. We have had conversations in our home that I wish we did not have to have. Conversations about hoodies, safety, skin color, assumptions, and how the world may see him before it ever sees his heart.
That is a grief all its own.
Reality
We all need to realize Jesus was not a blonde hair, blue-eyed Caucasian person. He was middle eastern with dark features and dark skin. Yet, we are all created in His image. I long for the day when we truly learn to see one another as image-bearers of God.
Backpacks By Lesle’ Honore’
When black boys are born
We mothers kiss their faces
Twirl our fingers in their curls
Put them in carriers on our chest
Show them to the world
Our tiny black princes
And when they start school
As early as 3
We mothers
Place huge backpacks on their backs
And we slowly fill them with bricks
Etched with tools
Tattooed with truths
Hoping to save them
{Don’t} talk back
Don’t get angry
Say yes ma’am
Say no sir
Don’t fight
Even if they hit you first
Especially if they are white
Do your best
Better than best
Be still
Worker hardest
BRICK
they get a little older
And we add more
Keep your hands out of your pockets
Don’t look them in the eye
{Don’t} challenge
Don’t put your manhood before your life
Just get home safe
Don’t walk alone
{Don’t} walk with too many boys
Don’t walk towards police
{Don’t} walk away from police
Don’t buy candy or ice tea
{Don’t} put your hood up
I’ll drive you
{I’ll} pick you up
You can’t be free
Don’t go wandering
Come home to me
BRICK
They get a little older
And we add more
Understand you are a threat
Standing still
Breathing
Your degrees are not a shield
{Your} job is not a shield
Your salary makes you a target
{Your} car makes you a target
Your nice house in a nice neighborhood
Makes you a target
Don’t put your ego before your safety
{Don’t} talk back
Don’t look them in the eye
Get home to your wife
Your son
BRICK
They weigh them down.
This knowing
Of having to carry the load
Of their blackness
the world hasn’t changed
The straps just dig deeper into their skin
Their backs ache
But their souls don’t break
Our beautiful black men
When you say
All lives matter
I simply ask
Will your son die with the world on his back
Mine will.
By: Lesle’ Honore’
You can read more reflections on Adoption here.
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