"Death of Another Rapper (So Many Lives)" by Synnika Lofton

The fat cats commercialized

black death.

Made it marketable.

Made it acceptable.

Made it cool.

Made it status quo

to strive

for scars

for bullets

for prison sentences

for status feeds

for threats

for wounds

for violent viral videos

for foreign cars

for misogyny

for abuse.

This system is old and archaic.

We gave them this steering wheel.

We structured this tradition.

They benefit from what we created

tolerated, and allowed to breathe.

Young boys want the fame and fortune,

but the price is heavy,

but the price is real.

They operate in fatal culture.

They run through landmines

for the chips

for the bag

for the scratch

for the paper.

Dead white men grin.

Dead white men know the value

of slave culture.

Another rapper leaves the earth.

The people mourn.

The people cry.

The people analyze,

trying to make sense of a puzzle.

His life mattered.

Black teens matter.

They laugh.

They scream.

They run up the hills.

They disappear.