Ghetto Rage

You gaslight my history
Which teaches me 
I come from magnificent
Mothers and Fathers
Abuelas y Abuelos
My history which shows me 
I come from a dignified people
And then you try to convince
Me, I’m worthless
That my history doesn’t exist
Because I wasn’t 
Significant enough
You gaslight everything
I come from 
And would have me believe 
I am inferior
My ghetto rage doesn’t just come
From what you did to my
Mothers and Fathers
Abuelas y Abuelos
It comes from you 
Continuously gaslighting
My very existance
You are like the abuser
Who beats his wife
And then convinces her 
To apologize because
It was her fault
You want me to know my place
But how can I? 
You took my place out 
Of history
You terrorized me, caged me 
Killed me
You still do
And you justify it with
My “threatening” rage
I can’t continue to wait 
For you to someday acknowledge 
My worth and place
And I can’t continue to be
Consumed by this rage

Or I will disappear

So what do I do with this rage 
When the systemic erasure
Of my very existence won’t stop?

“Ghetto Rage is when the whole world keeps telling you you’re worthless. When you fight micro aggressions daily and you feel like you’re losing and start drowning in self-loathing and burning rage but you can’t even express your anger because Homeland Security, ICE, The cops can decide at any time you are a threat and deport you, imprison or even kill you.” John Leguizamo