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Burdens
By Cheikh “CJ” Diakhate
Burdens carried
Burdens of humiliation
Burdens of safety
Burdens of acceptance
Humiliation cast
A clown becoming your face,
A paint that can’t be washed away
Jiggaboo becoming your title
laughter launched like stones
as if you were a character to be laughed at
Safety stripped
Your house becoming a site for casual terrorism
Your life having the value of a snail in the garden
Laws written to measure and devalue your worth
Acceptance rare
A white man weighing your livelihood with the stroke of a pen or the turn of a head.
Standing up for yourself breeding sharper rejection.
Even asking for a book at a library met with refusal—knowledge gated, dignity denied.
But burdens carried
became backs still unbroken.
Humiliation cast
became memory.
Safety stripped
became demand.
Acceptance denied
became movement.
And we were never
what they named us.
Meet the Poet – Cheikh “CJ” Diakhate
At 14 years of age as of 2026, Cj Diakhate is a poet with a true passion for art. He started writing poems at age 6 at the Opportunity Zone competition. He is currently a student at Collegiate High at Chatt State, pursuing a goal of graduating high school with an associate degree.
CJ aspires to be a radiologist when he grows up. He has always wanted to be a doctor since the age of five. In his free time, he enjoys learning an assortment of instruments and experimenting with music. He also enjoys poetry, and he is very excited about where this journey of writing will take him.
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