{"id":3912,"date":"2020-06-02T12:33:43","date_gmt":"2020-06-02T11:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalindianstories.com\/?p=3912"},"modified":"2020-06-03T02:27:28","modified_gmt":"2020-06-03T01:27:28","slug":"i-cant-breathe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalindianstories.org\/index.php\/2020\/06\/02\/i-cant-breathe\/","title":{"rendered":"I Can\u2019t Breathe"},"content":{"rendered":"

At a time of global pandemic, it is telling to see the large gatherings of protestors across America. Personal safety has been thrown aside in a quest for justice.<\/p>\n

The deep upset and anger caused by the death of George Floyd has been felt far and wide, and it’s certainly not just African Americans that can sympathise with the systemic ill-treatment of their people. Soumik Datta a Bengali-born, British Indian musician and composer has written a poem which captures his feelings, not only about racism but about his personal experiences at the hands of prejudiced bullies.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been feeling so weird all week<\/em>
\n A strange kind of numbness,<\/em>
\n Thinking about why these childhood<\/em>
\n Memories have washed up,<\/em>
\n Like garbage on a beach…<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Sure, I was punched and kicked and<\/em>
\n Called a \u2018Paki\u2019<\/em>
\n I cleaned floors that were not mine,<\/em>
\n Woke up to buckets of ice<\/em>
\n In the dead of night,<\/em>
\n Gave my wallet to bigger kids who<\/em>
\n Spat in my face,<\/em>
\n But none of that stung<\/em>
\n Nearly as much as the time my<\/em>
\n Mind joined in the battle against me<\/em>
\n And suddenly it was easier…<\/em><\/p>\n

To see why<\/em>
\n I couldn\u2019t<\/em>
\n Hang with those other kids,<\/em>
\n Why I couldn\u2019t play on that team,<\/em>
\n Why I was happy to come second and<\/em>
\n Stand behind them,<\/em>
\n The Asian<\/em>
\n Friend.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s fine, I thought,<\/em>
\n Being the subject<\/em>
\n Of other people\u2019s jokes<\/em>
\n Hell, I found it funny too<\/em>
\n To laugh at myself, against myself, at<\/em>
\n Punchlines about \u2018Pakis\u2019, about people like<\/em>
\n My Mum and my Dad, who had<\/em>
\n worked and Worked and struggled and<\/em>
\n Crossed oceans<\/em>
\n Giving up everything<\/em>
\n To find their children<\/em>
\n Opportunities.<\/em><\/p>\n

That guy in my head grew<\/em>
\n Louder and Stronger<\/em>
\n Fed by the illness in my brain,<\/em>
\n And it made me do things to myself<\/em>
\n To fit in.<\/em>
\n To belong.<\/em>
\n To accept and<\/em>
\n Move on.<\/em>
\n Scars that will always remain<\/em>
\n Beneath the melanin<\/em>
\n And my pain,<\/em>
\n That will forever<\/em>
\n Be there<\/em>
\n Invisible to your<\/em>
\n Eye.<\/em><\/p>\n

I see it now<\/em>
\n Racism is an illness,<\/em>
\n A spineless virus crawling<\/em>
\n In the minds of oppressors and bullies,<\/em>
\n In the silence of the apathetic<\/em>
\n In the hearts of those who learn to cope<\/em>
\n By laughing along with a joke<\/em>
\n Until it\u2019s not funny anymore<\/em>
\n And a white knee is pressed down on a<\/em>
\n Black neck for<\/em>
\n 8 minutes and<\/em>
\n 46 seconds<\/em>
\n Then cities burn<\/em>
\n And fires rise<\/em>
\n And the whole world<\/em>
\n Screams<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI Can\u2019t Breathe\u201d<\/p>\n

#<\/span>alllivesmatter<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0#<\/span>blacklivesmatter<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0#<\/span>georgefloyd<\/span><\/span><\/a>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Streets after riots protesting the death of George Floyd<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a time of global pandemic, it is telling to see the large gatherings of protestors across America. Personal safety has been thrown aside in a quest for justice. The deep upset and anger caused by the death of George Floyd has been felt far and wide, and it’s certainly not just African Americans that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3913,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,37,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-fiction","category-life-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nI Can\u2019t Breathe - Global Indian Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/globalindianstories.org\/index.php\/2020\/06\/02\/i-cant-breathe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I Can\u2019t Breathe - Global Indian Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At a time of global pandemic, it is telling to see the large gatherings of protestors across America. 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