Turn off the stereotypes

Aisha Fukushima

Turn off the stereotypes,

Assign me a category,

I'll give you a scattergory,

Let justice roll forth like a mighty stream,

A true individual is one that dares to dream,

What are you looking for in the mirror when the richest part of you lies within?

A beauty that doesn't stop at the skin,

What race are you part of?

I'm racing with my dreams,

Everyday I wake up to an inner passion that screams,

Curiosity beads up and rolls down my face: a spiritual perspiration,

Inhaling inspiration,

Exhaling innovation,

Aspirations in your life's blood, driving your circulation

Unruly is the heart that tries to house an evolving soul,

Fueling an inner fire, an inner passion with an ever burning coal,

Stop looking for who you are in other places,

You will never come to recognize your own potential in other faces,

Only you can choose the path that falls below your feet,

Oppressive expectations, limitations, of a free mind are shackles of self defeat,

No ancestor fought for our freedom, only to see us retreat,

The confines of passivity are liken to the cage of a bird,

Imprisons a song, never to be heard,

One vision can change the world,

Planting seeds to a grassroots movement waiting to go unfurled,

Before embracing others you must come to embrace yourself,

Take a risk: believe in who you are,

In a limitless sky of possibility you are a shooting star,

Identity is what you make it,

The opportunity of life is before you, how are you going to take it?

The strongest moral fiber is knit into a community,

You embody the present, future, and past,

The legacy of legends live on in your path,

Multidimensionality is not meant to be compromised by ignorance,

Intolerance is a symptom of a narrow perspective that needs to be broadened with diligence,

One the greatest enemies to our individuality can be ourselves,

For fear of not being accepted, we try to stow away parts of our identity on metaphysical shelves,

Being self critical is different than being critical of self,

No need to be afraid of your talents, because they're not afraid of you,

To your inner calling you must be true,

You've faced the music; the time has come to play your own tune,

An inner calling that resonates, lighting up obscurity of the darkest night, like the rays of the moon,

Regret is optional so don't choose it,

If a mental boundary obstructs you, lose it,

A multidimensional personality is bound by the unity of community,

A support system allows a daily continuity,

No challenge is strong enough to efface these chapters of your life,

Each entry is enriched with the overcoming of pain and strife.

Are you down with this?

Are you up with the times?

Can you feel the heat burning behind the fire of these rhymes?

Remember: A freer world begins with a freer mind.