Were it not for slavery

There would be no

Black History Month

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Or a Malcom X

No Barack Obama

Our first Black President

And arguably, no America

As we know it

Built on sweat and tears

Of free labor

Over hundreds of years

Making a young nation

Prominent and wealthy

Beneficiaries of a servitude

Both north and south

Until slaves were freed

Only to endure Jim Crow

Discrimination and segregation

For another hundred years

Leaving a legacy

In American history

Worthy of special attention

With the solemnity

Of a living monument

That is

Black History Month.