Once riding in old Baltimore,
Heart-filled, head-filled with glee;
I saw a Baltimorean
Keep looking straight at me.
Now I was eight and very small,
And he was no whit bigger,
And so I smiled, but he poked out
His tongue, and called me a nigger.
I saw the whole of Baltimore
From May until December;
Of all the things that happened there
That’s all that I remember.
Countee Cullen is one of the most representative voices of the Harlem Renaissance. His life story is essentially a tale of youthful exuberance and talent of a star that flashed across the African American firmament and then sank toward the horizon. Continue reading at Poetry Foundation
Stirring Up Trouble by DrVLoLil 
Riding in North Little Rock,
Heart-filled, head-filled with glee;
I saw an Arkansawyer
Who kept looking straight at me.
Now I am sixty-six and very large,
And he was no whit mighty,
And so I smiled, but he poked out
His tongue, and called me whitey.
I saw the whole of the South
From January until December;
Of all the things that happened there
That’s something that I will remember.
Black clouds matter. Black bears matter. Little Black dresses matter. Black shoes matter. Little Black books matter. Black eyes matter. Black holes matter. Ad infinitum. Ad nauseam.
At some point, on the infinite time line of eternity, we just have to get past the things that are stumbling blocks to honest and open dialogue.
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I memorized this poem a few years ago as a part of a speech I gave on inducing a colorblind society. I now reject the notion of a colorblind society and welcome a society where myriad identities are acknowledged and appreciated. I agree that “everything, everywhere matters” but until black lives get the respect and acceptance they deserve, I will continue to acknowledge the fact that Black Lives Matter (in the midst of all lives and everything in the universe).
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