Uploaded May 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
© Hadia Hussain (May 2020)
George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor. These are just three names in a long list of innocent black lives lost whilst in police custody in the US. This poem is about the racism and discrimination which continues to pervade society even in 2020; the need to call it out and for humanity to stand up and unite against it.
The first few verses are below. For the full text of the poem, see: facebook.com/nHorizons.org/posts/1606041166215585?__tn__=K-R
I Can’t Breathe
by Hadia Hussain
I feel pain and disgust as I write this
I feel shocked and embarrassed as I reminisce
About the days when we were younger and racism had no home
And every single child of colour was free to roam
A judgement free-zone
Or so I thought
The irony in the contrast of the pain that race has brought
Turns out that was merely my ignorance as a child
And as I grow so does the list of unjust deaths I have compiled
For me its just a file
For others is their child
I’m baffled
By the constant disregard for human life
How can one so apathetically use a knife?
How can one treat fellow humans as mere wildlife ?
And how are innocent people still living in such strife?
We have a problem
And I don’t know why its taken millions of deaths for us to notice it
Systematic racism - a disease that doesn’t seem to quit
And its taken this long for us to even admit
It preys on those that society continues to claim don’t fit
But unlike other virus’ this one has a clear solution
Vaccines take years to develop - this one just takes bravery and inclusion,
The potion isn’t magic, no witchcraft or illusion
The vaccine? Our voices
In this day and age, why are we still identifying people by the colour of their skin?
And why are people of colour still worried about fitting in?
How are people living in fear under a system that’s supposed to protect you?
How are we living in a world where I have to phone my black friends just to say ‘I got you’?
That I’ll stand with you and fight with you against the entire world’s view
The fact I have to clarify something they should already know’s true
Doesn’t even touch on what for centuries they’ve been going through
The systematic oppression and need for discretion
Until recently you would never see a person of colour in the spotlight
The difference in opportunity when you’re black compared to when you’re white
Its still extraordinary to see a black person win an award
And when they do yeah they’ll get a round of applause
But then what?
The next award is given and the timer resets
This is just one step and we can’t forget
To keep cutting away at the net thats blocking their freedom and prosperity
And on the topic of prosperity, why is it still so extraordinary to see a black man succeed?
Is this now what we understand by representation?
Is this really what we call diversity?
And since when did diversity become a solution for adversity?
Just because you admire black features doesn’t mean you’re riding
And vibing with black music doesn’t excuse the fact they’re dying
You can’t be there to prosper when culture’s beautiful in your eyes
but unprepared to say your piece when a person of colour unjustly dies
The silence is deafening
Piggy backing on black trends but ignoring the profanity
Lip fillers, fake tan, braids- maybe its just vanity
Or pure insanity
This isn’t what God teaches to Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Jews or in Christianity
You don’t have to be pro-black, you just have to be pro-humanity
And the truth is you don’t have to have experienced racism for you to empathise
You don’t have to be black or to have experienced a genocide
The real crime
Is sitting silently by
Watching every mother, every father, uncle, brother
Experiencing hatred for the colour of their skin
Whether its being shot for being black and going on a run
Or killed in your home - 8 shots from different guns
Or being unarmed and suffocated by the knee of a police officer on your neck
I can’t breathe
11 times George cried
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
Pain in his voice, life fading from his eyes
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
Slowly losing consciousness until eventually he dies
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
But I ask you, can you breathe?
In this unjust society
Through the pollution of prejudice, the clouds of racism
Can your lungs find air?
Tell me is it fair?
How is sympathy so rare?
People getting killed for living and you can’t even spare
A minute to educate yourself, please pull up a chair
Show that you care
After all, is breathing in submissive air
Much better than not breathing at all?
Within a week the officer that killed George Floyd was charged with murder
A charge that never would have been issued had no one spoken up
Justice unfulfilled if the situation remained untouched
And if the incident was not filmed, would we even have known as much?
How many incidents go unnoticed - buried in the hutch?
Cont...
© Hadia Hussain (May 2020)
George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor. These are just three names in a long list of innocent black lives lost whilst in police custody in the US. This poem is about the racism and discrimination which continues to pervade society even in 2020; the need to call it out and for humanity to stand up and unite against it.
The first few verses are below. For the full text of the poem, see: facebook.com/nHorizons.org/posts/1606041166215585?__tn__=K-R
I Can’t Breathe
by Hadia Hussain
I feel pain and disgust as I write this
I feel shocked and embarrassed as I reminisce
About the days when we were younger and racism had no home
And every single child of colour was free to roam
A judgement free-zone
Or so I thought
The irony in the contrast of the pain that race has brought
Turns out that was merely my ignorance as a child
And as I grow so does the list of unjust deaths I have compiled
For me its just a file
For others is their child
I’m baffled
By the constant disregard for human life
How can one so apathetically use a knife?
How can one treat fellow humans as mere wildlife ?
And how are innocent people still living in such strife?
We have a problem
And I don’t know why its taken millions of deaths for us to notice it
Systematic racism - a disease that doesn’t seem to quit
And its taken this long for us to even admit
It preys on those that society continues to claim don’t fit
But unlike other virus’ this one has a clear solution
Vaccines take years to develop - this one just takes bravery and inclusion,
The potion isn’t magic, no witchcraft or illusion
The vaccine? Our voices
In this day and age, why are we still identifying people by the colour of their skin?
And why are people of colour still worried about fitting in?
How are people living in fear under a system that’s supposed to protect you?
How are we living in a world where I have to phone my black friends just to say ‘I got you’?
That I’ll stand with you and fight with you against the entire world’s view
The fact I have to clarify something they should already know’s true
Doesn’t even touch on what for centuries they’ve been going through
The systematic oppression and need for discretion
Until recently you would never see a person of colour in the spotlight
The difference in opportunity when you’re black compared to when you’re white
Its still extraordinary to see a black person win an award
And when they do yeah they’ll get a round of applause
But then what?
The next award is given and the timer resets
This is just one step and we can’t forget
To keep cutting away at the net thats blocking their freedom and prosperity
And on the topic of prosperity, why is it still so extraordinary to see a black man succeed?
Is this now what we understand by representation?
Is this really what we call diversity?
And since when did diversity become a solution for adversity?
Just because you admire black features doesn’t mean you’re riding
And vibing with black music doesn’t excuse the fact they’re dying
You can’t be there to prosper when culture’s beautiful in your eyes
but unprepared to say your piece when a person of colour unjustly dies
The silence is deafening
Piggy backing on black trends but ignoring the profanity
Lip fillers, fake tan, braids- maybe its just vanity
Or pure insanity
This isn’t what God teaches to Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Jews or in Christianity
You don’t have to be pro-black, you just have to be pro-humanity
And the truth is you don’t have to have experienced racism for you to empathise
You don’t have to be black or to have experienced a genocide
The real crime
Is sitting silently by
Watching every mother, every father, uncle, brother
Experiencing hatred for the colour of their skin
Whether its being shot for being black and going on a run
Or killed in your home - 8 shots from different guns
Or being unarmed and suffocated by the knee of a police officer on your neck
I can’t breathe
11 times George cried
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
Pain in his voice, life fading from his eyes
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
Slowly losing consciousness until eventually he dies
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe
But I ask you, can you breathe?
In this unjust society
Through the pollution of prejudice, the clouds of racism
Can your lungs find air?
Tell me is it fair?
How is sympathy so rare?
People getting killed for living and you can’t even spare
A minute to educate yourself, please pull up a chair
Show that you care
After all, is breathing in submissive air
Much better than not breathing at all?
Within a week the officer that killed George Floyd was charged with murder
A charge that never would have been issued had no one spoken up
Justice unfulfilled if the situation remained untouched
And if the incident was not filmed, would we even have known as much?
How many incidents go unnoticed - buried in the hutch?
Cont...
