Spring of 2024 / Dressed up for Easter / With nature’s rebirth / A calm before the storm / In an election year / Like none other.
Why Black History Month
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
Not to fly away / If I were a bird / With a panoramic view / I’d see a paradox / Throughout the ages / In mankind’s inability / To reconcile / Hypocrisy with hope / Knowing what’s right.
An open-air walking event / Not at all pedestrian / Organically home grown / Authentic to its core
Black cargo in shackles / The bondage of slaves / Willing to die to be free
Holding hands in public / An overt sign of affection
A perennial question / Asked of Islanders / Is for the birds / Who've flown the coop.
To believe one vote / Can make a difference / Is an act of faith
Driving while Black/Shopping while Black/Realities of being Black.
Boom, Baam , Bang, Boom, Each earsplitting sound, Meant to arouse.