Savanna Jones Poet Free verse

I’m Not Ashamed

i’m not ashamed of being whitewashed
ever since i was young
i was put into sports considered to be “white”
i never thought about race at that age
all the kids looked the same
so how was i to blame?

i’m not ashamed of being whitewashed
my family told me i act white
like there was a way i was supposed to sound
a way i was supposed to be, a way to act right

i grew up in cities, went to a white school
they put me through it, just following rules
listened to the music they did at that school
not what they would consider “black music”
even though they never taught me it
never showed me it, never brought me it
so how was i to blame?

but what does it mean to act black?
is it the way that you talk? the way that you act?
does it mean talking “ghetto”?
or using a certain tone?
listening to certain songs
just to feel like you belong?

hanging around people the same race as me
but they don’t even like the same things i see
so what does that prove?
what does that make me?

getting judged by the way i talk
the friends i hang out with
the music i listen to
the way that i walk

it did something mentally to me
made me question my identity
instead of learning to love myself
i tried to be somebody else

i hated it
tried to fix it, tried to fix me
like i was something broken
like i wasn’t complete

but i couldn’t stay away from the things i loved
the things that felt right, that fit like a glove
so i learned to accept how i am

and that doesn’t mean
i ignore the color of my skin
doesn’t mean i forget where i fit in

i know who i am
and i know what i face
i don’t get to erase
or replace my race

i carry it with me
in every room i walk through
in every assumption
in everything people don’t say—but do

this isn’t me trying
to be something i’m not
this is me being everything
that i already got

because being myself
doesn’t make me less black
and i’m done letting people
try to tell me that

the only people telling me i’m whitewashed
are the people the same race as me
and maybe they’re the ones
still fighting insecurity

maybe they’re the ones unsure what they see

why should i give up the things i like
just to fit into a stereotype?
a box that’s tight, that isn’t right
that tells me how to live my life

a stereotype shaped by people
who don’t even like us anyway
who judge us for breathing
for living our day to day

so why would i change
for a system like that?
why would i shrink
or hold myself back?

if being whitewashed
means being true to me
means being honest with who i choose to be

then i’m not ashamed
not now, not ever
i’ve been this way
and i’ll stay this forever

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Beata Agustin April 8, 2026 at 7:15 AM Thanks for sharing this... exposing your thoughts through your unique poetic style. Welcome to Poetry Soup. I welcome you with the love of the Lord, expressed by John 3:16 of the Bible, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Be blessed.