Don't put me inside that Box!!!!

Don’t put me inside that Box!!!!

Black not Hispanic
White not Hispanic
Asian, Islander Pacific
Hispanic
Mexican
Puerto Rican
Mark one only.

Stop it I can’t breathe don’t you see what this is doing to me?
Why can’t I choose to mark other since nothing identifies me?

Go on braggin bout where you from and how you mark generation number 3
I gotta be strong and hold my head up while society decides my race for me

Unable to identify as both black and white or mixed as some choose
You wouldn’t know this because you haven’t walked in my shoes

I got hair like my mother red long and curly
Dark skin like my dad and lips like Aunt Shirley

Eyes so deep but not like the ocean, more like amber in a tiger’s eye
I am the descendants of the oppressed and the oppressor which I cannot deny

So here I am with a combination of features that don’t traditionally match
How does one decide which race do I empower or which one I should un-attach?

Always asked if I am Mexican, Boricua, Cuban, Dominican, just never Black
I stand proud to be both German and African American and that’s a fact!

I am considered the outcast by all means and Now I can embrace my lot
But what ever you do, by all means please, Don’t put me inside that box!!!

By, Myrtice J. Edwards

1-15-2007