Mr. Jock

Mr. Jock by Blake Simons ©

Mr. Jock

Big build, curly hair, darker skin, shoulders stock

All you know is the field, in the class you never talk

Can he articulate intellectually? I think not

That was your first thought, before I even talked

Mr. professor you're wrong

You knew it after the semester was over

You said when you saw me walk in the first day of instruction that you would have never thought I would turn out to be one of the smartest in the class

I just smiled, and laughed

Shrugging it off is a normal fallacy

In my head I said what an ass

Mr. professor

Before you judge me next time

Think.

Just think before you fulfill your negative stereotypes about a person

of color who has an athletic build in a predominantly white class

So Mr. Professor..

This is my time to tell you who I AM even though you knew who I WAS by

looking at me when I walked in your class

This will be simple

You won't need a PhD to understand my life.

If this was a test you should pass.

If you knew me,

If you really knew me you would understand the struggle it’s been to

get where I am

If you knew me you would know I had to stop playing the sport I loved

for a year because of the PTSD and depression I suffer as a result of

being abused from the person society tells me to call dad

If you knew me you would know that I had two surgeries in one year and

barely stepped on the field but despite that, I am an honor student

who volunteers and gives back

A student who dreams of a better world and takes steps to change it

rather than succumbing to my pain and falling victim to the

stereotypes.

My perseverance is a constant, it never slacks

So Mr. Professor

If you knew me

You would think twice about insisting that I am only a jock

If anything

I am the furthest thing from that