Shasparay – Shopping While Black [Video]

By Button Poetry

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Shasparay, performing at the Stonewall International Poetry Slam in Baltimore, MD.

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Transcript provided by YouTube (unedited)

0:06
let me tell you about the best photos i
0:09
have ever taken i got hired to model for
0:12
one of walmart’s plus size lines hair
0:15
was done face done everything done i
0:18
posed
0:19
and my melanin popped the camera lens
0:22
off i feel my ancestors push my
0:25
shoulders back i keep my head up like no
0:27
one has called me fat and minted as a
0:29
synonym for ugly i hold my hands like i
0:32
just got through casting a smell i
0:33
smiled and suddenly the light pours in i
0:36
dared anyone to twist they lips and say
0:39
i wasn’t beautiful because one of the
0:41
first times in my life i acknowledged i
0:43
was and i saw myself
0:46
months later
0:48
walmart employees followed me through
0:50
the store
0:52
i thought maybe they recognized me
0:54
but this wasn’t runway
0:56
i was just running errands the true
0:58
offense was shopping while black i
1:01
smiled i did but it did not change their
1:04
depth of field i’m under the impression
1:06
that my melanin got them wanting to pop
1:08
off so i leave wasn’t gonna let white
1:10
gays dim my brightness but they followed
1:12
me
1:13
couldn’t even leave the parking lot
1:15
before red white and blue pulls me over
1:18
i don’t want to be america’s next top
1:21
martyr
1:24
so i posed make myself into a model
1:28
minority when the cops pull up i push my
1:30
shoulders back and fix my face my
1:32
ancestors force my hands to the wheel i
1:35
open my mouth to speak but here’s sandra
1:37
and philando say is there a problem
1:39
officer
1:41
the store called
1:43
they twisted their lips and said i stole
1:45
something maybe if i had been as still
1:48
or as white as the mannequins they would
1:50
have left me alone how ironic that the
1:52
same corporation that tries to capture
1:54
me tries to capture me this time
1:57
this time in a different light i want to
1:59
show them my headshots to clear up the
2:01
confusion but i don’t want to get a head
2:03
shot why can’t i prove that black bodies
2:06
weren’t just made for mug shots
2:11
let me tell you about the worst photo i
2:14
have ever taken
2:16
it’s the one they said they needed to
2:17
put me on file for criminal trespassing
2:20
even though i went through the checkout
2:22
line even though i had a receipt tears
2:25
are streaming down my face and the cop
2:28
tells me to smile
2:30
he says to smile
2:32
as if i should be grateful that the
2:33
clique was followed with a flash and not
2:36
a bank
2:38
[Applause]

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This post was previously published on YouTube.

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