Do They Still Matter?

"How does one feel unwanted in a country that stole them from their homeland?

They desired my presence so they can treat me as if I am less than human."

Acknowledgments 

Say their names. The names of those awaiting justice and those who gave up on justice. The names of those who lost their lives and those who fear losing their life everyday. This book is love and this book is unity. This collection is for those who have healed and those who still need healing.

The Collection

Can You Hear the Cries? November 28, 2019

Motown April 25, 2019

Shrinkage October 18, 2020

Verdict April 21, 2021

Wright the Wrongs May 12, 2021

The Sun Never Rises May 25, 2021

About The Collection

The “Do They Still Matter?” collection contains poetry written from 2019-2021, before and during the height of the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement, expressing a melancholy sentiment of anger, sadness, and anxiety. Offering commentary on racial injustice and civil unrest, Veney needed their poetic outlet while grieving in silence as some of their White peers from their predominantly White high school spout racist rhetoric about how Floyd deserved to die and criticized the riots while others who only then became aware of the racism still heavily prevalent in society who resorted to performative activism, posting black boxes and retraumatizing Black people through their reposts. As each day passed, Veney experienced the entire spectrum of emotions that they poured into these poems. This poetry collection written from the voice of a young Black teenager is resistance, raw, and Black.