Chocolate Brooks - Fourth Place Tie

“My Black Face is not a trend,” written poem by Chocolate Brooks

Hands up! Don’t shoot! I’m not putting up a fight! 

Not all cops are bad, sure, yeah right

Cops beat us unconscious until we see the light.

You know that white light we see, while our neck is buried under their knee, and we are screaming I CAN’T BREATHE!

Dr. King’s ideologies were based on nonviolence and equality.

But Black people are always called out for their “animosity”

400 years of slavery, beaten, bruised, and having our identities stripped from us!

But this is the topic no one likes to discuss. 

A black boy's ball flew over his white neighbors’ fence, he followed it. 

I think we both know the crime; the neighbor is going to commit!

The man sees him and says “Stay there!” 

The boy and the man’s eye meet and they begin to stare. 

“I’m sorry sir, my ball flew over the gate”

The man pulls out his gun and BANG he shoots him.

He’s dead and “trespass!” is what the man said

Now the child’s mother and father have to pay for his funeral instead

That man knew the system would give him a clean slate

He didn’t even need a court date

They claimed the man was in a “poor mental state”

I’m black and I often walk around feeling attacked. 

It seems as though no one has my back

Labels, stereotypes, and disrespect

All of these assumptions are incorrect

Mugshots, blunts, and middle fingers is how we are depicted

Meanwhile, all of my people are being wrongfully convicted

Abuse, racism, and brutality; how much can we stand? 

Can someone please lend us a hand?

We have come a long way from being slaves, yet they still dig our graves?

We were once African Kings and Queens; now we are pictured popping Percocets and drinking lean.

I choose to tell others about my personal experience 

I don’t do this so they can applaud my resilience

I choose not to pursue wrath 

Rather than partaking in violence, I choose a different path

I use my voice to speak up on injustice and inequality

I am tired of hearing these pointless apologies 

Black Lives Matter is more than just posting a black square on your Instagram

That was such a sham

Meanwhile I am raising donations, raising awareness on injustice, and signing petitions

I will not stop until we get our recognition 

I educate people daily on how not everyone has fair treatment 

Meanwhile, they shake their head in disagreement 

My grandpa told me “I see no color”

I told him if he doesn’t see color, he is allowing me to suffer

The Pledge of Allegiance says “Liberty, and justice for all” 

I’m here to tell you that this line is false 

“Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.”

Meanwhile we are always told to get over our past. 

I want to make a change in my community 

I want all of us to join each other in unity 

I will be a social worker to help my people and protect them from evil

I will always protect my people!

Dr. King believed there were 3 evils; poverty, racism, and militarism 

We will fight against this unfair system!

These are issues we have to face today 

I believe that we should love one another because at the end of the day we are all the same, just different shades.

My Black face is not a trend

I hope this violence and suffering will come to an end

I will always speak up on these issues and I will be ignored

Justice in America needs to be restored.


Often this topic is treated as a trend We want this discrimination to end!

About Chocolate Brooks

“I am a first generation college student and I am a senior graduating in April 2021. I am majoring in Social Work and have future plans to work with children who are in the foster care system. I am also a part of Zeta Sigma Chi Multicultural Sorority Inc, and we promote inclusion and educational events around campus as well.”

Geneva Korytkowski