"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.