HOUSTON: To Serve and Protect - A Poem from the Oct 22 Anti-Police Brutality Event

The following poem was part of the October 22 Anti-Police Brutality Community Awareness Event in Houston, TX.

It is entitled: To Serve and Protect
By: Deniz Lopez

to serve and protect
isn't meant for me
at least, that's the image i get
from all that it is i see
people look to the cops to keep the peace
but i'm fearful if i trust you
brutality will never cease

why'd you shoot daniel jr. point blank in the face
why didn't you do anything when a minuteman sprayed Naui with mace
you arrested my brother for walking down the street
without explaining why- and that is fucking weak
i'm expected to report when bad things go down
but i can't, for fear it'll mean one of my homies in the ground.
sometimes when i see what you do i clench my fists
but trying to reason with you might get me handcuffed at the wrists

why riot gear for a peaceful protest in L.A.
why you do things that force me to close my eyes and pray
oh yeah- i forgot- you're part of that blue race
so you've been taught to see yourself a step above the common brown face
i'm a minority, so i gotta watch my back
and i'm political, so at any moment you might attack
with no mercy, no regard, and no warning
you are capable of hurting me, leaving me for dead, and my family in mourning

don't get me wrong now, cuz i don't think all police are bad
but right now, i don't trust not one of you, and that's sad
i mean- can't you see that by you taking that cop code of silence
it's allowed corrupt cops to use excessive violence
and the average age range of victims is between eighteen and twenty three
at this rate I'll have to fear my own son walking in the street

so, you know what man
i think i'll just take care of me
try to talk to people to build community
see my people-
that way i know you and you know my family
so we can watch out for eachother
and make sure we all stay free
of incarceration, oppression
and being brutalized by cops
we need to address this issue
so the killings can stop

and once they know that as a community we are paying attention
corrupt cops wont be able to fullfill ugly intentions
policia..stop profiling the poor, brown, and black
help us build and take our neighborhoods back
that way it wont be so much about striving and surviving
but actually more about communidad reviving

well, that's about all i have to spit about this plight
stand together gente and more than anything
watch out for each other & know your rights.

Courtesy of: dee♠colonize