Masked Man, Black

Black male me           walks into a store
in broad daylight      black phone in hand
wearing a black mask.

You already know how this         ends.
Somebody felt threatened.
Somebody got shot.
Black woman wailing makes news.

But it isn't new.
All the chalk outlines are white.
All the states are red.
The Coronavirus doesn't discriminate.
Racists still do.

Peel off mask          no grins        no lies.

...walk into a bar in America.
Butterworth says, I'm being repackaged.
Ben says, I'm being rebranded.
Jemima says, I remember
when they branded my mama    on her back.

The bartender says, I could stand in the middle
of Main Street and kill somebody
and I wouldn't lose any voters.
Butterworth says, then I'll take eight bullets
in my sleep. Ben says choke me to death
with your knee. Jemima says,
lock me in a holding cell and say
I decided to hang myself.

The bartender poured the drinks,
said he felt threatened
and was simply standing his ground
when he thought the thug
was reaching for a gun.

The headlines said Well-Loved American
Foods Resisted Arrest, Failed
to Comply, and Were Delicious While Black.

Butterworth's daughter said here's to progress,
we might finally get an anti-lynching bill.
Ben's son said I'd rather they abolish
qualified immunity. Jemima's kid said you know
they abolished slavery once,
then they hung my mama      on that box.