& do it with a smile by Ashley Elizabeth

Listen to the (yt) folk around you as they "try to solve inequality between the races" Pose for mugshot after you're arrested

for protesting for civil rights the way you

and many like you have been treated

the backhanded compliment when someone (yt) says you're pretty for a black girl and all you want is to rip their stupid (yt) scalps from their stupid (yt) neck

and scowl but you must grin and bear it

or be the angry black girl when your silky shea skin is compared to coffee cappuccino, chocolate always a consumable just like the countries (yts) cabbaged -- all too happy to master something they know is not theirs

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Ashley Elizabeth is a writing consultant, teacher, and poet. Her works have appeared in SWWIM, The Hellebore, and Lucky Jefferson, among others. Her chapbook, you were supposed to be a friend, is available from Nightingale & Sparrow. Ashley lives in Baltimore, MD with her partner and their cat. Twitter: @ae_thepoet