We Were Never Meant to Fit Their Frame
Part 1: The Anatomy of False Promises– Justice, Equality, Equity, and the Illusion of Inclusion
If you rather like read all the poems later, please feel free to download the PDF:
JUSTICE
[EXHIBIT A: a door that only opens inward.
EXHIBIT B: my body, framed as weapon and evidence, but never as witness.
EXHIBIT C: your silence.]
JUSTICE
— She arrives suited,
speaking Latin,
carrying papers signed by men
whose hands never touched a wound
that wasn’t self-inflicted.
Footnote [1]:
"The law is neutral"
is what they say
when neutrality serves them best.
Justice wears blindfolds
to avoid eye contact with grief.
She nods
to the badge,
not the bruise.
DO NOT SPEAK OUT OF TURN.
DO NOT RESIST.
DO NOT BLEED WITHOUT A LICENSE.
DO NOT EXIST IN A BODY
THAT IS NOT A STANDARD ISSUE.
i
i was told
“justice is for everyone”
as if
that promise
wasn't
Booby-trapped.
(transcript)
DEFENDANT: I just wanted to be safe.
JUDGE: Define “safe.”
DEFENDANT: Not hunted.
JUDGE: But were you respectable?
>>>breaking transmission<<<
🎵 Background noise: sirens / headlines / gavel gavel gavel / someone is chanting in the street again, how exhausting /
Who let them feel that loudly?
⚠ SYSTEM ERROR:
Justice is currently unavailable.
Try again later.
Try again quieter.
⎯⎯⎯
Do you know what it is to file a report
and become the criminal in your own story?
Justice is an algorithm with bad data.
Justice is a GPS that routes you back to the scene
again
and
again.
FORM REJECTED.CASE DISMISSED.YOU DIDN’T BLEED CORRECTLY.
And still.
We name her.
Drag her into the streetlight.
Make her answer, even if she answers in screams.
Because justice has teeth.
And we’ve been biting our tongues for too long.
EQUALITY
A Myth with Teeth
[WARNING: The system has encountered a paradox.
Privilege ≠ Protection.]
“We are all equal here.”
— say the signs on the walls
of buildings where my name
doesn’t fit the entry form.
Equal.
But only if I smile.
But only if I comply.
But only if I don’t ask
why the ladder’s
missing half its rungs.
🎤 voice 1: public school assembly
We treat everyone the same here.
We don't see difference.
That would be rude.
🧷 voice 2: a whisper behind a desk
"But you’re white—how could you be struggling?"
"It’s not discrimination. You’re just... difficult."
"Try harder. Talk softer. Be normal."
📎 insert image: classroom seating chart with stars next to names like Sarah and Thomas—none next to mine
[Footnote]
Kimberlé Crenshaw: “Intersectionality is a lens…”
My life: a shattered prism
where whiteness gives me one kind of light
but everything else
distorts it.
Equal means flat.
But I am not flat.
I am jagged.
I am neurospicy.
I cry in meetings.
I didn’t marry.
I live in a body that was never invited
into the center of the circle.
And yet—
I am “equal.”
They say this with a smile
while tying the noose of normalcy
around my deviation.
📢 chorus voice (rising):
Where is equality
when your safety
depends on silence?
When your difference
is tolerated at best
but never welcomed?
[EXHIBIT: THE INVISIBLE WEIGHT]
Gendered slurs tucked under compliments.
Classed out of opportunity before the interview.
Medical gaslighting as routine care.
Queer joy labeled “too much.”
The workplace meeting where you say the thing—and no one hears it—until he repeats it.
Equality is not equity.
Equality demands sameness.
Equity remembers suffering.
But I am told—again—
that I am equal.
Even as I sink beneath
the waters they do not see.
Even as I scream,
and they call it noise.
[ERROR 404: LIVED EXPERIENCE NOT FOUND]
EQUITY
A Quiet Word with a Loaded Past
[system report]Update installed: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Policy v.2020New folder created: “Progress”→ subfolder: “Backlash”
📌 memo tacked to the office corkboard:
“We believe in equal opportunity for all.”
(equity not mentioned)
(bias training optional)
(feedback anonymous, but not really)
i. The Illusion of Arrival
They said we made it.
Laws were passed.
Flags flew.
The company posted a rainbow
in June.
And still—
the water isn’t flowing evenly.
The faucet was fixed,
but only in the front room.
There’s still mold in the back.
(¬_¬) voice from a lunch table:
“You should be grateful.
It’s better than it used to be.”
Better is not the same as right.
ii. The Quiet Undoing
Equity is the word they use
when they’re tired of hearing about justice.
It’s softer. Easier to fund.
It sounds like something you can measure.
But how do you measure
being last in line for care?
being first in line for blame?
being told to “wait your turn”
by people who never had to?
(╯︵╰,) screenshot, 2023:
Headline: “Supreme Court Rolls Back Affirmative Action”
Comments:
“Good. Now it’s fair.”
“Finally, equality.”
“Why should they get special treatment?”
→ You mean like history gave you?
iii. Scarcity Script
It’s not just my rights
that are fragile.
It’s your sense
that rights are pie.
You think if I get a slice,
you’ll starve.
That my freedom
will take your air.
That I want
your job,
your child’s scholarship,
your god,
your flag.
I don’t want your erasure.
I want my existence
to stop being
an inconvenience
to yours.
(╯°□°）╯ diagram: A table with more seats vs. the same table with higher walls
iv. What Equity Actually Means
It’s not a handout.
It’s not guilt.
It’s not a threat.
It’s a recalibration.
It’s a step back from the podium
to let someone else speak
in the voice they were born with.
It’s a room arranged
not for convenience
but for consciousness.
v. The Grief Beneath the Progress
We had a moment.
We believed the tide was turning.
Then came the waves
of Not Like That.
Not That Fast.
Not So Loud.
Equity was declared
a risk.
An agenda.
A virus.
But we knew.
That the moment you name what’s uneven,
someone will come to sand it flat again.
vi. And Still — the Work
We stay.
We rest.
We rise again.
Not just for seats,
but for the soil.
Not just to be let in,
but to remember
this whole structure was never made
for us to thrive.
And now —
we build new ground.
No ladders.
Just land.
(๑•̀ㅂ•́)ง✧
INCLUSION VS. UNIFORMITY
The Table You’re Not Allowed to Sit At
Form: a bureaucratic grid, standard issue. The aesthetics of control.
| RULE | STATUS | NOTES |
|------|--------|-------|
| Belief in dominant god | ✔ | All others: please remain silent. |
| Skin tone match sample swatch #3-6 | ✔ | Deviations flagged bsecurity systems. |
| Citizenship (recognized by paper trail) | ✔ | Asylum seekers marked “Pending.” |
| Voice volume (moderate, confident) | ✔ | Too quiet = weak. Too loud = threatening. |
| Eye contact (but not too much) | ✔ | Adjust per power dynamic. |
| Shoes: Leather (soft, non-creaking) | ✔ | Logos optional. Cost must be invisible. |
| Hair: controlled, compliant | ✔ | Natural textures under review. |
| Gender: binary, performed cleanly | ✔ | Ambiguity triggers system error. |
| Education: prestigious, Western | ✔ | Accents must be managed. |
| Family structure: nuclear | ✔ | Deviations require explanation. |
(⇀‸↼‶) You approach the table, holding your story like an offering. You are handed a clipboard instead.
"Thank you for coming.
Before we can welcome you,
please ensure you are appropriately aligned."
VISUAL AID: THE TABLE
[ RESERVED ]
[ ALREADY FULL ]
[ YOU MAY OBSERVE ]
[ PLEASE STAND BACK ]
✎ Handwritten at the margin of the seating chart:
“We said diversity, not disruption.”
NOTES ON THE ROOM:
• Chairs are uniform.
• Air is cold.
• Silence is curated.
• Every laugh sounds the same.
• You are smiling, but you don’t know why.
(╯_╰)
APPLICATION FOR BELONGING
Please complete the following:
What will you hide to be let in?
☐ Accent
☐ Hair
☐ Faith
☐ Feelings
☐ Queerness
☐ TruthWho do you have to step over to stay here?
☐ A sibling
☐ A friend
☐ YourselfHave you been told you are “too much” or “not enough”?
☐ Yes
☐ Also yes
DECLINED.
You did not meet the standards of uniformity.
Inclusion, here,
was never about being seen.
It was about being filed.
Please feel free to download all poems:
This poetry cycle will continue in a second part A Movement Toward Hope, Belonging, Connection, Peace, and Love (guided by the voices within, and between, us)
Thank you for walking this path beside me.
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