nevertooyoungfortheblues - Tumblr blog

[nevertooyoungfortheblues]

This is the story of little Jamayla

Known as the black girl who came from la playa

Playa means beach

It's in Spanish

People think she's Dominican

But she came from the other side of the island

She did grow up on the beach

Mayla's from Port-au-Prince

She did good in school but didn't have a lot of friends

Mayla's parents didn't have a lot of money

They decided she should live with her Grandma

Sent her to the US, Grandma's house in Alabama

Mayla doesn't care, except she doesn't know English

Doesn't help that kids at school seem to be a little ignorant

They call her African American

Which is weird for her

Because she's never been to Africa and her family ain't American

Kids seem confused by her heritage

Seven years old when she memorized the book of Genesis

Ten years old when she declared herself a feminist

But in her country, female independence isn't elegant

So now she go to church every Sunday for the penitence

And her Grandma says she should pray to God for some common sense

Her and the kids in school don't have much in common since

Once again, she barely speaks English

Now they call her that "weird Haitian voodoo chick"

Oh, so NOW I'm Haitian?

But when I first got here all ya'll were hatin

All she wants to do is fit in

But every time she talks she stands out

“So learn the learn the fucking language, or get the fuck out”

She tells this to her Grandma, but Grandma doesn't care

“Just don't embarrass me at Church with your frizzy island hair”

Mayla wants to make friends, to get the time to pass

She even likes a few boys in her class

But at her, the security guard is the only one who's ever lookin

And teachers are the worst

Always correct her English like, "It's taken not tooken."

So every day at lunch time Mayla goes to the bathroom and cries in the corner

She really misses the way her mommy used to hold her

One day the school nurse walked in, like

"It's ok, honey, sometimes I cry too.

Here, I'ma tell you what you do.

Listen to this, you might not understand the language, but you're never too young for the blues."

[nevertooyoungfortheblues]

This is a story bout a kid named Tommy

Every Monday he shows up to school without food in his tummy

It's not like Tommy's family doesn’t have a lot of money

But every Sunday Dad says he lost it playing horses with his buddies

Tommy likes math

And science class is pretty cool

But when it comes to PE other kids can be cruel

The thing is

Tommy can't see for shit

So the doctor, prescribed his glasses extra thick

He asked if he could get some contacts and his mom fucking flipped

“Got you a new backpack for school and you think we fucking rich?!?!”

Call his Dad up like “Can you believe this shit?!”

Oh well, Tommy didn't mean to cause trouble

But now his Dad's waiting on the couch at home with a belt around his knuckle

His face hit the floor, and the blood from his lip formed a little puddle

“Honey, did you see that shit?

Down on the ground with one hit

And this kid's bigger than me

Can't take a punch and he's fucking fourteen

Now go to your room, cuz you ain’t havin' dinner

You can eat when you show me I didn't raise a fucking quitter”

So, Tommy goes to his room

Blood in his hair

Chin’s black and blue

Ain't nothing left to do but sit back with his headphones and listen to some tunes

Miles Davis King of Blue, Track #2

Maybe Billie Holiday

He loves Strange Fruit

Tommy doesn't know a lot of things, but one thing he knows is true

No matter how old you are you're never too young for the blues