Why must the color of my skin be like a cage
Something that holds me back from ever amounting to anything
Something that prevents me from achieving
Why must it dictate so much
My education
My career
The college I attend
All dictated by something so simple
Why must it matter
I was always told to be proud of my heritage
Yet how can I do this when my heritage is being discriminated against
How can I be proud of something that makes me lower than the rest
Why must my gender make me less valid than you
A social injustice that I thought we put an end to fifty years ago
But I get it
The whole double negative thing
I’m a Puerto Rican girl
And that somehow makes me less of a person
Even though I was told we’re all equal
Why am I statistic
A number on a chart
Because if where I go to school has a reputation of having uneducated people of color
Somehow I become one of them
Because obviously we’re all the same
I have a name you know
Why am I still fighting a war that I thought was already won
When we decided that men and women were equal
I guess they forgot to mention that people of color were left out of that equation
Why must I have to break a glass ceiling to have my name recognized
In a world of people who just don’t pay attention
Why
I don’t understand
Someone enlighten me
And if not
Let me get this through your heads
I am not a number
Another statistic on a chart
Another stereotype
I am proud to say that I am an intelligent, creative, Puerto Rican girl
Who plans to make a difference
And when I do
You best believe you’ll know my name
