Lauren Lapid

Hashtag Poem

“We followed you blindly for thousands of years, you’d think the least God could do is show up for New Years Eve 1999″

“I couldn't love a man so purely

“Jesus knew he’d die

“If you’re white in Ferguson, you would need to be snorting cocaine directly off your dashboard to get stopped by the police. Whereas, if you’re an African-American citizen, you might have a slightly different experience.”

“We sweat for a nickel and a dime, turn it into an empire.”

“Because you know, amid this post-racial thing, sometimes I’ll have a student who says, “I don’t really think about race. I don’t see race.” And then I’ll ask, “Well, how do you read this?” And they say, “Oh, that’s a black person, that’s a white person.” So clearly, you’re race-ing these people in order to understand this dynamic. I wanted that positioning to happen for readers.”

“Because of your elite status and a years worth of travel, you have already settled into your window seats on United Airlines, when the girl and her mother arrive at your row. The girl, looking over at you, tells her mother, these are our seats, but this is not what I expected. The mother’s response is barely audible- I see, she says. I’ll sit in the middle.”

“Sometimes I think the hardest thing to be in the work force right now is an educated white guy.”

“But I’ve been watching from the slaughterhouse. ever since you named me edible.”

“Child support? Do you know anything about your people?”

“I can’t even pronounce nothing, pass that Versace!”

“Now, Jimmy Crow (as some have called this current era of racial caste by way of mass incarceration) continues the legacy of different rules for Black Folks within a seemingly integrated system of justice.”