Origin: posted by Bella L to the original La Bella Journeys on 7/7/2016

“Trauma is…
getting tense every time a cop is behind your car
No matter what the skin color of the driver happens to be
because YOU are in the car
and you’ve had bad experiences
and seen the YouTube videos
Trauma is..
People spitting at you in the grocery store
screaming “go back to your country!”
when this is your country
but the store manager apologizes because “you look foreign”
and other customers “make mistakes”
But “here is a voucher for $25 of groceries”
and “please come again soon”
Trauma is
Wondering if your brother is going to make it home ok
Because he’s black
Because he speaks English with a Spanish accent
because its after dark
and even though you don’t live in the city
the world has been that way lately
Trauma is…
realizing that someone changed their tone when speaking to your husband
only after they saw you
and because you might pass for white today
they can’t get caught with that attitude
Trauma is…
making sure you smile at all of your co-workers
so you don’t seem threatening in this blue collar environment
but don’t smile too big though
you can’t afford to go to jail over harrassment
Trauma is…
watching all these politicians fight over gun laws
and “whats best for the people?”
while your classmates die at the hands of gunmen
or, the men of handguns?
whichever sounds more politically correct
thugs or mentally ill? whatever.
Trauma is…
bursting into tears over fireworks
because America is celebrating this so called freedom
But you can’t stop your panic attacks because you have PTSS
Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome
Trauma is…
the birthing of death
64 people dead on the streets of Chi-town alone
due on independence day, 2016
just to give birth to another hashtag in Baton Rouge

AltonSterling

Trauma is…
The fatherless crying on national television
because society made fun of their friends for being fatherless
and then killed their daddy without remorse
Trauma is…
it is what it is
another day in the life of colored folk”
-“What is Trauma”, a poem