Still A Man

Even though I’m locked in a cell no bigger than a zoo cage for 20 plus hours a day and fed slop thru a slot, it doesn’t take away the fact… I’m still a man. Even when you attach a rope to the handcuffs and call this a “leash” or place shackles on my ankles while I’m on my knees. When I stand, I will stand tall for the fact is … I’m still a man. A man who will not allow your ignorance to dictate actions. No longer will your disrespectful remarks or actions be the reason I succumb to my lower passions – kicking doors, blacking windows, and flooding will no longer be my reactions to prove your thoughts of superiority are false.

You ganging up for a cell extraction to beat on my flesh cannot continue to be considered part of the norm. I’ve worked diligently to build the ability to articulate myself to avoid situations cause I refuse to turn the other cheek like Brother King. My ideology pulls me more in the direction of Comrade X

Since you refuse to see who stands in front of you as a man then you presumably don’t realize that your job is a privilege. Although you may judge and mistreat me with a few strokes of a pen, I can have you judged by twelve who will acknowledge the fact…

I’m still a man.

By Sidney Bowman, Red Onion