Who Marches For Us? A poem by Nicole.

One thing I’ve noticed, a quite glaring disparity
That happens with rather alarming regularity
When a black man is killed by white male offenders
The outrage is loud from both the male and female genders
But a black woman killed? Well, you’re shit out of luck
Because no one and nobody gives one single fuck.
Black women can die by anyone’s hand,
And the outrage is absent, we’ve seen this firsthand.
Breonna Taylor, Odessa Jones, and Kristy Jefferson,
Monique Baugh, Dominique Ben-David, and Melinda Anderson.
Cousins Shantel Hill and Resha Blount, and Mauricia Strothers
These are only a few, there are hundreds of others.
Have you heard of these women? Did you #sayhername?
Or does one have to be male to gain community acclaim?
All the women above were killed this year or last
And not one single march organized for any since they’ve passed.
What is different for them? Why no pickets or protests?
Why’s the murder of black women never addressed?
We say Black Lives Matter, but I’m not sure that’s true
Because the lives of black WOMEN don’t matter to you.
We don’t get the marches, we don’t make the news,
No rallies, no hashtags, no Instagram views.
No megaphone chants, no runs and no jogs,
No celebrity endorsements, no features on blogs.
Because sad as it is, if a black WOMAN is killed,
People will only care if certain requirements are fulfilled.
What pre-reqs are those? I’m glad that you asked,
As victim-blaming black women is a multilayered task.
If she’s killed by a black male, the world sits in silence
Because if you’re black and female, you probably deserved that violence.
Each year, domestic violence claims hundreds of black female lives
When questioned, folks offer “it’s proximity” as why.
Proximity, yes, that part is quite true.
But the RATE of our murder is where things come unglued.
White, Asian and Hispanic women all have lower murder rates
(Out of 100,000, homicide rates are 1.5, 1.2, and 1.8).
But for black women our rate is SIGNIFICANTLY higher,
With 4.4 murders per 100,000. The CDC is no liar.
If a black woman is killed by a white/nonblack cop:
“Well what was she doing? I’m sure the officer told her to stop.”
The only time a cop is seen as inherently right
Is when a black woman is the victim. Not a mourner in sight.
If someone kills a black woman, from Brad to Tyrone
It just doesn’t matter, sorry, you’re on your own
But if a black male’s the victim, there’s no shortage of support
Gaining international coverage for the life that was cut short.
And if there’s sexual assault, oh, well “how was she dressed?”
“She should have chose better, I’m not cleaning up her mess!”
“She went out at night? Well, what did she expect?
It’s her fault she died, her own personal neglect!”
Black women never seem to get the benefit of the doubt
As if yoga pants and cleavage caused her life to be snuffed out.
What needs to be done so our plight is heard?
Or since we’re not black men, do we just get…deferred?
It can’t just be me; you guys see this too, right?
No one mourns us, yet we must be on the front lines to fight.
For black male victims, my news feed is inundated
With lots of support, maternal instincts activated
But a black woman killed gets nothing, though it happens PLENTY
The only recognition she gets is an Our Lives Matter entry.
I would much rather black women stopped violently dying,
And failing that, community efforts, invested in trying,
To lower our murder rate to much lower stats,
This ain’t about feelings: there are numbers and facts.
We have energy for gossip and idle celebrity prattle
While we’re ignorant of our deaths, slaughtered like we are cattle.
We have fists in the air for slain sons and brothers,
But palpable silence for slaughtered daughters and mothers.
So to you black males, one question I’ll ask,
Do you ever plan to reciprocate on the laborious task?
Of defending black women, of coming to our aid?
Of wrangling your brothers that kill us every day?
You have energy for makeup and Jordan’s and hair
But on the frontlines for black women, I never see y’all there.
Pookie and Ray Ray can kill black women with impunity,
And is greeted by silence from the Black Community.
The Good Black Men too, you’re just as trash as the above,
Because your silence cosigns the murders of women you claim to love.
So yeah, black lives matter, but male lives matter more.
Take note of this ladies, so you know the score.
Put away your marching boots, and burn that damn cape
Stop defending males who’d blame YOU for your own murder or rape.
I cannot imagine expending all this concern
For a collective who does less than nothing in return.
So I ask this, Black Community, you’ll have an answer, I trust,

When a black woman is murdered, who marches for us?

Dedicated to the 270+ black women and girls who have been murdered since the start of 2020.

Please follow Our Lives Matter on Facebook to stay up to date on the horrors happening to black women and children right in your backyard, but not getting any widespread media attention.

Note: I am not celebrating anyone’s murder. I am just calling attention to the discrepancy in response between when a black male is murdered, to when it happens to a black woman.