EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

When it comes to
public schools, I
don't know how
minority kids learn
while trying to survive,

with parents working
overtime because they
can't make ends meet
with a regular nine to five,

most are single
parent homes, mom
working to the bone,
no fathers in the home,

because they're dead
or in jail, or running
from responsibility,
no job or college degree,
no equal opportunity,

just the streets,
avoiding the police,
or finding someone to rob,
out selling drugs cause
they can't find a job,

the pursuit of money
determines who lives well,
turning black men into
systematic casualties
put in 6 by 8 cells,

filling private prisons
fullfilling hellish visions
...families in division...

bombarded on all side,
and still these kids learn,
adapt, and survive.