White Privilege by Kyla J. Lacey (grdes 10+)

(Warning: Poem contains mature language)

In her powerful and poignant slam poem, White Privilege, Kyla Jenee Lacey explores both the obvert and subtle privileges that white people experience on a day-to-day basis that BIPOC do not. Through repetition, alliteration, and rhetorical questions for the audience, Lacey demonstrates the inherent contradications and logical fallacies that lead to white people being able to navigate society with ease, but disenfranchise and strip Black people of agency or power. There are few better examples of poems that lay out in plain terms the types of prejudices that Black people have to experience day-to-day that white people would never have to conceive of experiencing.

Kyla Jenee Lacey is an accomplished slam poet whose work has been viewed more than 50 million times on the Internet. She has spoken at over 300 post secondary institutions in over 40 states and has written for publications like Huffington Post, BET.com, and Root magazine.