The Chatter

After Online Petition, Towson High Student Allowed to Perform Poem

School administrators have allowed Marcus Shaw to read police brutality poem at senior talent show.

Believe Me

Officer, I’m begging you to believe

That never ever have I smoked weed

And please do not tell me that I have to leave

I need to stay in school and continue to read

Picture if you were me

Where everyone believes that you have a baby

By the time you reach the age of a teen

And the only question they ask is if you crip or bleed

But what if that’s not the case

Up my sleeve, I think I have an ace

That can answer the problems that all people face

No matter the skin color, no matter the race

It doesn’t involve mixing baking soda

Or shooting a brother just cause somebody told ya

Or shooting a ball because that’s how they coached ya

Or rapping like Chief Keef, King Sosa.

It’s called education

No matter what you do that should be the foundation
You won’t need a welfare donation

You can live your life and even vacation

I now see some police

Some start riots instead of keeping the peace

That’s the difference between them and me

I see a few bad apples not a whole tree

Some will cause my parents grief

By killing me, by killing me

Like Eric Garner

I cannot breath

But I promise I will garner my responsibilities

I want to succeed

No, I have to succeed

My life will not end at 23

I will beat that expectancy

And have children to carry my legacy
But, Officer, it’s not my weed.

Officer it’s not my weed.