Black History Month Poems - Page 2

I’ve been black long enough.

Long enough to know about the middle passage
Men, women, children, regardless of age
Stuffed in a ship, like animals in a cage

Long enough to know about slavery
And the white man’s feeling of mastery
Causing human beings a lifetime of misery

Long enough to know about Jim Crow
The unjust laws, instituted, blow after blow
Crushing the spirit of those they refused to know

Long enough to know about lynchings
The ‘strange fruit’ hanging from trees
After enduring a myriad of indignities

I’ve been black long enough.

Long enough to see separate but ‘un’equal classrooms
Schools with computers, others with, maybe, brooms
Leading inevitably to unequal boardrooms

Long enough to see the Civil Rights movement
Its effect on America barely a dent
Many courageous freedom fighters came and went

Long enough to see housing inequality
Driving past neighborhoods with no diversity
Wondering will we ever have inclusivity

Long enough to see the police forget
Those they are sworn to serve and protect
Instead they put a knee on their neck

I’ve been black long enough

Long enough to experience racial discrimination
I have felt it on more than one occasion
One time as a child on a family vacation

I was ten when I jumped into the motel pool
The white folks scattered; (was I made of stool?)
And glared at me as if I was the fool

Or when our family moved into a neighborhood
Only to watch signs pop up on placard and wood
‘For Sale’ signs to get the hell out of the hood

The confederate flag flew at my oldest son’s school
So what are concerned parents to do?
We dialogued a resolution until all parties were cool

I’ve been black long enough.

Hopeful or hopeless? Probably more of the latter
POTUS can’t even say the words ‘Black Lives Matter’
To some I may sound like a man full of blather

I’m not, it’s just that I’ve been black long enough
To know that enough is enough.

Penned June 4, 2020

I heard the voices scream
“Nigger, best shut your mouth.”
When prejudice ran wild
While hatred ruled the south

I heard the voices scream
“Nigger, back of the bus.”
Never knew why whites thought
They were better than us

I heard the voices scream
“Nigger’s setting off sparks.”
When they saw the courage
Of the great Rosa Parks

I heard the voices scream
“Niggers can’t go on strike.”
But instead of the bus
To our jobs we would hike

I heard the voices scream
“We black folks have our pride.”
As we walked hand in hand
And stood there side by side

I heard “I have a Dream.”
By Martin Luther King,
“If we stick with this thing
The voices will not scream.”

Heard, “Thank God Almighty,"
And “I am Free at Last."
Prejudice and hatred
Would now live in the past

I heard people singing
Songs full of love and peace
I heard people praying
For racism to cease

I heard the voices scream
“Nigger, pick my cotton
Color girl wash my floors”
Words won’t be forgotten

I heard the voices scream
“White man’s out and about.”
I heard, “I Have a Dream"
Just as the shots rang out

I heard the teardrops fall
I heard God's Angels sing
I heard the black man say,
“They murdered Doctor King.”

I heard the voices scream
“Revenge is what we seek.”
And not, “I Have a Dream
Someday our race will peak.”

I heard the voices scream
“We must stick together
Carry out Martin's dream
If it takes forever.”

I heard the voices scream
“We’ve won our Civil Rights.”
The words, “I Have a Dream
We’re equal to the whites.”

I heard the voices scream
“Racism’s here to stay
But thank God it isn’t
As bad as yesterday.”

I heard the voices scream,
“Nigger, back of the bus.”
Never knew why whites thought
They were better than us

I heard my own voice scream
When my sweet Momma died
Leaving her legacy
Her honor and her pride

I heard, “I think I'll sit
I'm tired and it's dark"
Were said by my Momma
Whose name was Rosa Parks

I had a dream
gathered up steam
and then just kept right on rolling
That black and white
no longer did fight
but unity both were extolling

I had a dream
built self-esteem
as I was bold and courageous
I made black and white
walk toward the light
and nobody thought it outrageous

I had a dream
making me deem
giving my life to the cause, providing
Both black and white
scale the height
And climb over the wall that's dividing

I had a dream
strong as a beam
sturdy and steady as can be
Saw black and white
holding on tight
To the vision that U.S. does mean we

I had a dream
we were a team 
Looking out for one or the other
Black and white
with all their might
helping and loving one another

I had a dream
made it seem
I should put what I dreamt in a letter
For black and white
did what was right
things couldn't be any better

I had a dream
cookies and cream
were on the menu that day
Because black and white
are precious in his sight
and they will be together someday

Poverty stricken youth jus trying to make a buck
mom working two jobs and pops don't give a f**k

daddy never comes around
at night the only sound

that can be heard are the sounds of the ghetto
drug dealing, gang banging the sirens of the po po

he finds himself posted on the corner slangin dope
to him it seems like the only hope

to finally get off the block or stay at a dead end job with no raise
so on the corner he stays

high school dropout with no time for class
time at a desk could be spent in the spot making cash

scarface dreams are clouding up his mind
cocaine sales taking up his time

greed has polluted his brain, spirit, and soul
hatred and a heart as black as coal

have takin over him what is he to do
no one gives him an answer looking for a clue

looking to the sky for some kind of sign
all he can see is a life full of crime

until the day the cops get him or his enemies catch him in the wrong hood
wearin the wrong colors, throwin up the wrong signs if he could

change things he'd do anything for a second chance
times up he has a dance

with the devil that's going to last an eternity
another soul lost, but others see it as another victim of poverty.