I was asked

What′s it like

Being black in today's military

The same way it felt back in the day

No we no longer have the pressures of segregation

But it still gets heavy on our hearts to carry this flag on our shoulders

And our spirits are no longer broken

Like the tools blacks were given

Even though they were only fixing for us to fail

And then expected to meet the same standard

It does get tiring

Constantly proving

To yourself that you′re worthy and tough

And then proving

To others that you're more than enough

We're no longer given ultimatums to slave or serve

But now we serve in hopes that slaves

Will never again be a thing

So yes it′s hard

To explain to others why you willingly swore

To defend a constitution that wasn′t considering your melanin

When it was originally written

And it hurts

Serving a country that makes you feel safer overseas than

You do at home

Being deployed

To the same countries that racists

Used to tell you to go back to

Believe it or not

It actually hurts to hear thank you for your service

Because sometimes it comes from the same people that are likely to avoid eye contact

Or

Clinch their purse when you're out of uniform

It′s heavy

It's tiring

It′s hard and it hurts

But we never had the tendency to just complain and quit

So pick your head up

And remember

Our black in the military runs from the birth of this nation

To the Buffalo Soldiers

To the Tuskegee Airmen

And even to the black men and women that serve with us today

Don't you know that you might be in uniform but there′s no camouflaging

Your essence

And don't you know

That just by you getting out of bed

You become a Civil Rights leader's breathing message

Being black in today′s military means

You get to add pages to Black History every day

Black History is more than

The complex spectrum of our complexions

It′s about when roadblocks were placed in our path

And we consistently hurdle them

We get asked to do the impossible all the time

And we answer back saying, watch this

Black history is about standing tall so others may kneel

It's about the struggle and the highlights

The short falls and the help up

The rumbles of the good fights

The setbacks and the come ups

It′s about how different colors and different backgrounds can stand

Shoulder to shoulder and not a single person can ever doubt what the black person can

This poem is not an invitation to a pity party

And it's not to put down other ethnicities

No this poem is for those whose skin color falls

Anywhere on the convoluted spectrum of cream

To the color of solitude when you close your eyes to meditate

For those

Whose DNA screams human as loud as it can to deaf eyes

This poem

Is for those Black Americans who chose to wake up from the American Dream

To serve an American duty instead

For those who served their time lacing their boots

And permanently hung up their uniform

Or were laid to rest in it

This poem

Is about how Black history lasts longer than 28 or 29 days

And if this poem makes you uncomfortable

Then stop watching

Stop listening

Then look in the mirror

And ask yourself, why

So what′s it like

Being black in today's military

The same way it felt back in the day

The difference is

Because of my brothers and sisters before me

And the ones standing with me today

Now you′re listening

Black history is written after every day is over

You have 24 hours

How will you add to it