"My name is Libby Taylor and I am a 19 year old university student from the north of England. I am a poet and aspiring novelist as well as a Non-Fiction Editor for my university’s literary journal, and I also work as a Journalist for my university’s newspaper. My poetry has been published in Vaughan Street Doubles, Pendemic, and I have had my work archived in the UCD Library, Ireland. If you want to see more of my work, you can find me on Instagram and on my blog.
"In my collection of poetry facing racism, I want to spread awareness on the oppression of black people, especially now that the world is finally waking up to racism in our society. However, although more people are realising the atrocious things happening, especially with police brutality, we still need more unity to achieve change. I hope that my poetry can at least educate people and help them realise we are still a long way from a complete change in our society. With more people coming together in support of Black Lives Matter, we can get closer to a more equal world for everyone."
Murderers Walk Free
I can’t breathe
He could hear the pedestrians’ screams to get the officer off him
Someone who swore an oath to serve and protect
Crushed an innocent man’s face harder into the floor as he knelt on his neck
It hurts, it hurts
Was it because he was black?
Or was it because a uniform allows these things to happen?
The officer said to stop resisting but he couldn’t move
My stomach hurts, my neck hurts, everything hurts
Where is the justice when life after life is being taken?
And murderers are allowed to walk free and have the protection he should have got
As his life was snatched away from a mistake with a bad cheque
Where is the justice?
He was human too.
Riot
Why are we angry?
If a white man was killed in the middle of the street
In broad daylight as pedestrians watched on
Would the killer be protected by a barricade of police officers guarding his home?
If a white woman was shot in her home whilst she slept in her bed
Would her killers be free to carry on with their lives with no punishment?
If a young white jogger was hunted by group of men and murdered in his neighbourhood
How long would it take for them to be taken into police custody?
We are angry because black lives are taken without any justice or remorse
We are angry because we have to protest and riot for our voices to be acknowledged
We are angry because we live in a society where the murder of black people is the norm.
Why aren’t you angry?
The Faces of Change
We are powerful
We fight back with a fire inside us uniting us as one
A fire that has ignited as the world wakes up,
Wakes up to the countless, senseless killings of black lives
As their murderers walk free, hiding behind a uniform
We are fed up with the oppression ruling modern society
We take the bullets, the tear gas and the beatings
But we will not stop until there is change and justice
We will be brave. We will not fall.
Ignorance Kills
Can you see that the colour of their blood
Is the same crimson red that flows through your veins?
You killed them because of the colour of their skin
Do you now realise we are all the same?
A Dream Needs Hope
Today I am holding onto the idea that one day in the future
There will be an equal society where oppression is no longer accepted
People won’t be killed because of their race
We shall live in a community of fair treatment and respect
Whether it be so near that we can begin to grasp it with the edge of our fingertips
Or whether it is a blur in the distance that will become clearer
As we wake up to the racism and tyranny in our world today.
