An Atlanta 14-year-old who called out "White Boy Privilege" at a slam-poetry contest at his school in May is now taking up the heavy topic of police brutality, set to debut his latest slam poem Thursday, CNN reports.
Royce Mann will be featured in a segment of the Fox talk show The Preachers, which is scheduled to air Thursday at 11 a.m. ET, performing his latest work, "All Lives Matter but … "
"My second poem is in response to the recent violence and the peaceful protests. I want to talk about how violence isn't what's going to create change, and I want to show people that we can create change peacefully," Royce said, according to CNN.
And just like with his first poem, Royce surely began loud and strong.
"All lives matter, but … One: So do black lives. Why do two phrases that should work side by side seem to only divide? Two: That's all anyone's saying: Black lives matter, too," the poem begins.
Royce then references the choking death of Eric Garner in Staten Island, N.Y., saying, "Eleven: That's how many times—'I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't breathe'—Eric Garner said, 'I can't breathe' before he was killed by police. So I guess those three words only mean stop if you're white."
"15: That's how old Cameron Sterling was when he lost his father. 15: That's how old Cameron Sterling was when he said we must protest the right way. 15: That's how old Cameron Sterling was when he said peace, not guns," Royce added, going on to address the death of Alton Sterling.
"52: It's been 52 years since the Civil Rights Act passed and everyone supposedly became equal. Well guess what, we're in 2016 and films about equality are still part of the fantasy genre … 102: That's how many unarmed black people were killed by police last year," he continued.
Royce said he was inspired to address the issue after the recent shooting deaths of Sterling, who was killed by police in Baton Rouge, La., and Philando Castile, who was gunned down by police in Falcon Heights, Minn.
"It's the elephant in the room. Everyone knows it's real. They just don't talk about it because they're scared of change," the teen said.
He also had quite a bit to say about the ambush of police in Dallas and in Baton Rouge, resulting in the deaths of several officers.
"All these problems, I think, they really come from stereotyping, from grouping people together. Lots of people say, 'Oh well, all police discriminate, all police are racist,’” he said. "Lots of police are really good people who want to serve their country. On the other hand, lots of people say, lots of black people are criminals. And that's not true at all."
Read more at CNN.