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