Friday, July 19, 2013

We Must Be Allowed To Tell Our Own Stories



Today, in this country, with its terrible history of mistreating people of color, OUR African American President of The United States Of America, spoke about being African American in American. (Epic Moment!) I listened to him, and he got it right.....

I really think that you have to be African American in the US in order to know what it is like to be African American in the US. I have always wanted people to understand this extra weight, called Black in America, that we carry around. And rest assured that is a weight that I carry with honor, because it makes me stronger, and I would not trade it for anything. But, to hear The President of The United States say that he knows how it feels to be racially profiled, because it has happened to him, speaks volumes. I hope the world was listening as he spoke about the Trayvon Martin verdict and being Black in America. (We finally have a leader who knows this walk!)

After listening to The President, I listened to Nikki Giovanni recite her poetry on CD, and I must share this poem "Nikki-Rosa," because I think that it is quite appropriate right now:

Nikki-Rosa

childhood remembrances are always a drag   
if you’re Black
you always remember things like living in Woodlawn   
with no inside toilet
and if you become famous or something
they never talk about how happy you were to have   
your mother
all to yourself and
how good the water felt when you got your bath   
from one of those
big tubs that folk in chicago barbecue in   
and somehow when you talk about home   
it never gets across how much you
understood their feelings
as the whole family attended meetings about Hollydale
and even though you remember
your biographers never understand
your father’s pain as he sells his stock   
and another dream goes
And though you’re poor it isn’t poverty that
concerns you
and though they fought a lot
it isn’t your father’s drinking that makes any difference   
but only that everybody is together and you
and your sister have happy birthdays and very good   
Christmases
and I really hope no white person ever has cause   
to write about me
because they never understand
Black love is Black wealth and they’ll
probably talk about my hard childhood
and never understand that
all the while I was quite happy


We Must Be Allowed to Tell Our Own Stories...

2 comments:

☼Sunshine☼ said...

Good read, and so true!

Jacqueline said...

Thanks for reading Sunshine!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...