Black Britain and Black America

These so-called chips on our shoulder

Are the building-blocks of equality

I do not need permission to recall my history

Black Britain and America are not the same

But we see you

And we feel your pain

I Am Trayvon Martin

For our races and birthplaces

We are not to blame

I stare into this shattered mirror

A society that reflects our own

Black America, you are not alone

Our paths are not parallel

But our struggles need not be separate

If we teach our children to never forget

That before any wars on terror

There were wars on our humanity

Labelling us less than we were born to be

Equal

Though most days it feels we are guilty

Until proven innocent

Failures until we achieve something excellent

But it's also our right not to excel

To live normal decent lives

And not fear bullets and jail

Not have to justify our existence or presence

In countries built on our backs with no thanks or penance

It's not just the taxis and black cabs not stopping for us

It's the police and civilians targeting us

It's losing out to the white candidate

Despite the same qualifications

Or getting the job

And people calling it positive discrimination

Yes, I've got a big black chip on my shoulder

And this pink one too

LGBT and feminist, I will stand by you

America, I have only stood on your soil once

And I don't understand all of your laws

But yours is a struggle I cannot ignore

There are many more struggles that need to unite too

Native Americans and Australians, I see you

In this black mirror made of more than glass

But they say, "It's not about race now

It's only about class."

Dean Atta's debut collection of poetry 'I Am Nobody's Nigger' is published by The Westbourne Press.