I sometimes get those dual voices going in my head. That one voice that says, “You gonna take this sh*t? You’d better stand up and tell them people what you really think!” Then the other one that says, “No, just take the ‘higher road’ and say nothing…or better yet, just ignore it because they’re just ignorant.” Sometimes I even hear that voice telling me to act a fool and just “go off.” I especially hear these voices when I’m in all White crowds and being the “only one” of my kind. Do I say what’s really on my mind when someone asks me yet again if I rap? Do I yell at the top of my lungs at someone who denies my life narrative and relegates it to the status of “too sensitive?” Do I simply use four letter words to express my thoughts because it seems “holy words” aren’t working? Or, do I say nothing at all? Do I take the calm Negro route? Do I make the White folks feel comfortable with my smile and 3 button suite and PhD? Do I caress the White male with the phrase, “It’s cool, and I know you didn’t mean me”? What voice do I listen to?

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