WHO ARE WE?

‘There’s no mystery to Black History‘ (that’s my little poetic saying). My parents came from Jamaica to the UK in the early sixties. Since then I have traced my ancestry back to the point when slavery was just abolished. (I have located over 400 family members spread across the globe).

And now nearly 200 years later in the UK my son and daughter are just learning about Black History in school. Wow. Is this ‘Titantic’ ship starting to turn? Who knows, hopefully for everyone of colour, wherever we are all are, whatever status we hold, just maybe there are slivers of light appearing amidst the once long and eternally dark tunnel, that we have been and are still treading.

As a would be poet, below is my first take on the many wonderful black inspirational people that have had endure; so people like me, don’t have to as much...

We could be the person on the bus

Your name may have been Rosa Parkes

Your life made to suffer by the colour of your skin

Yes; they have tried to demean the colour that is dark

We were the people without a voice

But Martin Luther made them hear

Look what they did to our dear proud brother

Because he made ‘them’ see what they all feared

We are the ones that move fast

Yes; Jesse Owens showed the dictator this

In the face of complete and utter oppression

It’s something that hasn’t fallen over the precipice

We have own Marvel Man from the past

No wheelchair in sight; but his name has an X

A voice for black empowerment

And contrary to many he wasn’t always vexed

A personal mentor; the first black female poet

If you don’t know; Phillis Wheatley was her name

George Washington recognised the talent

For every poet; she should be in your ‘hall of fame’

We need to be like our once enslaved Frederick Douglass

He fought to support those via the abolition of slavery

Putting pen to paper for all to read

His life, his very own Black History

We are the ones that Marshall the Good

Overturn the wrong for the right

Winning against segregation for the learning to occur

We thank him for providing; ‘out of darkness’ we too now have light

We are among the ‘greatest’ ones that had to rumble

The man with fists and feet of flight

Yes Cassius/Muhammed Ali knew how to move

You couldn’t stop him talking either; any day or night

We are the ones that have had to ACT

Mr. Poitier the consummate pro; won an Oscar

Imagine that in an era for his accolade

Showed that black people could also raise ‘the bar’

We should be Harriet Tubman the saviour

Literally saving over 300 enslaved souls

Nursing her community to a better educated life

She was dedicated, selfless and bold

We are the forerunners to make things happen

From a seat of power to make the change

Shirley Chisholm started the political race

And now her stepping stones has put us on the front page

We are the entrepreneurs with a million in the bank

Madam C J Walker knew how to make ‘hair pay’

Making jobs for over 3,000 people at that time

Means we continue to use her genius every single day

We are everyone, everything, just like you

We have beautiful, hair, colour, skin and eyes

We are proud, clever, funny with intelligence

We are here, we are all together, let’s all keep aiming for that prize…