161 years of Juneteenth

Celebrating the freedom within

…years of Juneteenth

161 years since the last slave was freed 
 you’d think 161 would’ve been all we need.

92 years since Redlining’s first show 
with a bunch of little deserts we call the ghetto.

71 years since Emmett Till was beat to a slime 
Just 6 years ago it was made a hate crime.

161 years since Reconstruction began 
 161 years of sticking it to The Man.

2197 days since Rayshard was shot 
1 Black heap of ashes in a Wendy’s parking lot.

Over 6 years since Breonna Taylor’s fate 
20 shots were fired; she caught 8.

161 years figuring out how to break free 
 6 million ways to die for my friends and me.

56 years since the Migration stopped 
But the wrong side of the Mississippi will still get you got.

11 years since I bought my house, literally on this day 
and I saged it this morning cuz I don’t play.

After 161 years of a life so rough … these 161 words will never be enough.

For Lack of a Wetter Bird, Happy Juneteenth, everyone!