Black is a strong color

Strong like a king that you stare at in the street, a dictator

A color so strong that you can’t see through it

Black is the darkest color, yet it’s so bright it drives you blind

Stronger than red

Red is the color of my blood and my flesh

Red is the color of your blood and your flesh

Beyond all the black, we are both red on the inside

Red like the anger you feel when looking at me

Black is stronger than blue, rich blue waters

Water I bathe in and water I drink

Water we can’t drink together

The same color to quench all of our thirsts

Black is stronger than yellow

Yellow like the burning sun in the sky 

The same sun billions of us have seen

The same sun billions of you have seen

This one sun above us all 

This one sun unifies us forever with the bonds of life

Invisible roots stemming and beaming from our feet

These roots converge in a massive network 

This network connects strangers on the street

Black is stronger than gold

The gold standard rests far above the black standard

So immeasurably far that you couldn’t conceive of a black man meeting this invisible mark

But my mark isn’t invisible, it is hanging around my neck

A gold medal shimmering in street lights and flashing puddles

My face is so black that you couldn’t look down two feet

“America’s hero” is nothing except a black man in front of you

The fastest man in history is still miles behind dozens of partons

Miles away from the melting pot, left stranded on the countertop

Entering hungry for a meal

Leaving with a sharp, soured tongue

Even when running for America, I was running against America

Running against mountains of boos

Running into walls of hate

You’d rather see a Nazi Germany than a black American hero

Black is so strong you don’t even know my name

The name in the papers

Embedded in gold hanging from my neck

Embedded in my skin captivating your eyes

The hardest part of running is never the shoes or the track

The tallest hurdle I’ve ever cleared is that of intolerance

A tidal wave of near insurmountable height, a cultural wall

A society united not by nation but by color, two halves of one loving whole

The one thing this society hates more than a white villain is a black hero

The one and only way to allow a black man to run

Run for and not against the not very united states

The only way to create a culture of community 

The only way to see through black and into love

Know me not as the fastest man ever

Don't know me as black or even as a “black idol”

I am not the sum of my skin and skill

I am not a man of characteristics

I am a man of character

My name is Jesse Owens