Author’s Note: This photo was taken at the Slave Museum. As the little girl’s mother was explaining what happened, she hugged the statue and said, “Everything’s going to be okay.” This is a poem that reflects that faith…
They sure tried:
To strip us culturally
To bend us spiritually
To break us physically
To give us second best
To question our humanity
To question our intelligence
They sure tried:
To stop us from voting
To stop us from organizing
To stop us from demanding
To stop us from marching
To stop us from praying
To stop us from fighting
To stop us from protesting
To stop us from singing
They sure tried:
To deny us access
To reduce our numbers
To convince us we don’t belong
To tell us we had nothing
they didn’t give us
To stop us from voting
To erase us from history
They sure tried:
To tell us to get over
the very history they
imposed
on us
They sure tried:
To tell us we’re violent
Ignorant
Beastly
Savage
Sexual predators
Dopefiends
Whores
and Pimps
and
Criminals
They sure tried:
To keep us illiterate
To keep us afraid
To keep us unaware
To keep us drunk
To keep us in vice
To keep us down
They sure tried:
To keep us enslaved
We tried too:
To be patient
To be non-violent
To suffer
To fight through the system
To die on our feet
But we got tired of trying
because they mistook
patience
for weakness
So we said
No,
and we said
No longer
And we said
No more
And we said
Our lives matter
And now they try
to say it’s our fault
they have to kill us.
And now, in 2016…
We find that
the
Tryal
is far from over
But if we stand
and work
and build
and teach
and love
TOGETHER
the verdict
is
Victory.
Beyond Panic 
A powerful piece. Nicely done, Alfred.
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Was a bit nervous about posting it, to be honest. It came off more edgy than I intended, but I decided to leave it. Have to be true to how you feel… Thanks.
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You do mate. Be true to yourself and your words.
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