The Pain Behind The Colors
By Paroma Raychaudhuri
“One small voice can teach the world a song,
Start with one small voice, ‘til another joins along,
One small voice can teach the world a song."
- Sesame Street
Let us all learn from that one small voice,
Teach the world a song,
Embrace our diversity,
Make our race one.
We talk about admiration,
Caring towards each other,
Our support and love for one another,
Underneath this act,
It’s such a great shame,
A thirst, the need to conquer,
To end, and finish the race,
We are all born innocent, beautiful and pure,
Yet, we play the hypocritical game,
And roll the dice to see,
Who’s our next victim?
In this manipulative game of monopoly.
I ask you,
What is so blissful about ignorance?
Why can’t we see?
That each human is different,
Who should all be treated equally,
You can compare yourself to no one,
No one can compare themselves to you,
No one can entirely match your identity,
Why are we obliged to break through?
“I have a dream”,
We all have that dream,
If not now,
At least once before
Don’t let the dream die, do not judge me,
I am my own person,
I see you,
Your eyes piercing through my skin,
Search deeper than race and color,
Comprehend what’s within.
We are so much more than just a color,
More than the shade of the sun,
The flames in the fire,
The soil, night fall or
The heavenly skies,
Haunting me, hunting me, killing me,
I won’t let you pull me down.
What is it that we should all learn to truly appreciate?
Multiculturalism;
It’s the cultural and ethnic diversity within a social space,
Here’s a country where you see a new face everywhere you go –
A city with a “variety” of culture thrown in,
On the streets of Toronto,
Portugal, Korea, Italy, Ukraine, China,
Germany, Poland, Greece, India,
Bulgaria, Mexico, Hungary, Macedonia,
The Caribbean, Laos, Ethiopia, and Jamaica.
True,
North,
Strong,
Free,
Canada, you’ve given reason to see diversity.
Discrimination starts in our childhood,
We’re easily influenced by all that surrounds us.
The curse of racism exists even here,
Right where we stand,
We have a need for the feeling of acceptance,
To feel security underneath this shell.
We look nothing alike.
I don’t look right.
Fact is;
We’re the ones responsible for this unbearable pain,
We created what’s wrong and what’s right.
I can look beyond your skin,
I can show you a whole new world outside,
Open your eyes,
Free your mind,
A dawning to a new era must begin,
Not one person can make this change alone,
Are you in?
Tolerance is no longer a solution,
It’s no longer a way to live.
May truth open the doors and shine its’ light,
Acceptance be our way of life.
We are all beautiful,
Ignorance is not bliss,
All invisible boundaries must break down,
Humiliating me, Hurting me, Killing me inside,
The race to conquer must desist,
I will come out stronger,
I will not let you pull me down.