​Andréa Agosto

Do you see Me As a human being? Or as another statistic An angry black chick Sick Of her people's blood being spilled on the pavement. You praise us for our patience Then scream non compliance Blame us for our executions When we cry out for resolution How dare you make me ashamed When you're to blame And all I want for you... Is to just say their names Acknowledge the problem Help us solve it Don't dismiss the issue And think we're trying to diss you We just

I chose to use the word uprising, as too often it seems as though the media paints Blacks and other minorities as rioters and looters, while when White people react to...a World Series win, they are sports fans. I feel like I've written about this issue of police brutality before. Oh that's right...I have. I know that people seem to be having a hard time understanding the citizens "destroying their city," but in their minds, they are taking their city back. They are claiming

After the Grand Jury decision in the Mike Brown/Darren Wilson case resulted in no indictment for Officer Wilson, social media networks lit up…and unfortunately, so did Ferguson, MO. As I scrolled through my newsfeed that night, I saw numerous, explicitly racist statements, photos, and shares. I was irritated, but as a person of color living in the United States, I expected a racist backlash and definitely saw it. I held my tongue until I stumbled upon the following post and r

Poetry has been a large part of my identity and how I choose to express myself. I am very fortunate to have this gift and use it when I am no longer able to articulate myself in a normal way. The following poem illustrates my inability to appease the Black and Hispanic and Latino coommunities in Kansas City. I was never enough of one to be accepted by either, but instead of crawling into a hole and hiding, I let their disapproval fuel my conviction, which caused this poem to