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Black Is The Strongest Color
Black is a strong color
Strong like a king that you stare at in the street, a dictator
A color so strong that you can’t see through it
Black is the darkest color, yet it’s so bright it drives you blind
Stronger than red
Red is the color of my blood and my flesh
Red is the color of your blood and your flesh
Beyond all the black, we are both red on the inside
Red like the anger you feel when looking at me
Black is stronger than blue, rich blue waters
Water I bathe in and water I drink
Water we can’t drink together
The same color to quench all of our thirsts
Black is stronger than yellow
Yellow like the burning sun in the sky
The same sun billions of us have seen
The same sun billions of you have seen
This one sun above us all
This one sun unifies us forever with the bonds of life
Invisible roots stemming and beaming from our feet
These roots converge in a massive network
This network connects strangers on the street
Black is stronger than gold
The gold standard rests far above the black standard
So immeasurably far that you couldn’t conceive of a black man meeting this invisible mark
But my mark isn’t invisible, it is hanging around my neck
A gold medal shimmering in street lights and flashing puddles
My face is so black that you couldn’t look down two feet
“America’s hero” is nothing except a black man in front of you
The fastest man in history is still miles behind dozens of partons
Miles away from the melting pot, left stranded on the countertop
Entering hungry for a meal
Leaving with a sharp, soured tongue
Even when running for America, I was running against America
Running against mountains of boos
Running into walls of hate
You’d rather see a Nazi Germany than a black American hero
Black is so strong you don’t even know my name
The name in the papers
Embedded in gold hanging from my neck
Embedded in my skin captivating your eyes
The hardest part of running is never the shoes or the track
The tallest hurdle I’ve ever cleared is that of intolerance
A tidal wave of near insurmountable height, a cultural wall
A society united not by nation but by color, two halves of one loving whole
The one thing this society hates more than a white villain is a black hero
The one and only way to allow a black man to run
Run for and not against the not very united states
The only way to create a culture of community
The only way to see through black and into love
Know me not as the fastest man ever
Don't know me as black or even as a “black idol”
I am not the sum of my skin and skill
I am not a man of characteristics
I am a man of character
My name is Jesse Owens
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