"I can't breathe"
I made a call for the submission of poems for Africa Day just three weeks ago. Ironically, at the same time, African-American George Floyd became a victim of a racial killing at the hands of police officers in the US. This moved the pens of the following individuals. Please absorb, and where possible, enjoy.
Still fighting
By Alicia Lebrium
Like my father before me
I'm still fighting to be free
With everything in me
Hunted relentlessly....
I'm a slave
To this land of the brave
Caged
in this home of the free.
Fighting a futile fight!
Cause I will NEVER be white!
I march on in crowds
Screaming loudly
"My life matters!!!"
But if they can't hear me
Begging to breathe,
How will they hear me
Asking to live?
I march on and on.....
The road is rugged and long
My heart is broken but strong.
And I'm still fighting
With all of my might
For the right
To be me.
Like my father before me
Who was sold for a dollar
then chained by his color.
But he fought
And bought our freedom
Or so he thought.
I'm still a slave
In the land of the brave......
And I'm still fighting
This endless war
Terminally black
With no cure.
Valued less
More and more......
Afraid to go
To the corner store.
Lest they take my life
With a gun or a knife
Or their bare hands or knees
While I cry "I can't breathe."
And all that will be left
is my name.
And best believe
My color will be blamed
Like those before me
Who fought to be free.
Born black
Black
Black
Black
Black
Black
Gone!
I wish you didn't
Have to fight for me
Tell me....
How can i RIP???
When I died fighting
For a color I didn't chose
I died hoping I didn't lose
This fight.
And hoping that my soul might
Join the marching crowd
Behind of Ahmaud Aubrey
And George Floyd
Who were Slaves in the land of the brave
Then Freed from the home of the free.
Born black.
Gone black.
Chained to this color
Forever
Please Fight for me.
Don't stop fighting for me.
I Can't Breathe
By Michele Henderson
Can you hear me Mama?
I keep telling them I can't breathe!!
And I just can't conceive
Of what I did to deserve this!
Can you see them Mama?
They've a hatred so heavy
intent on crushing every
Vestige of my being!
Could I just be dreaming…?
But I'm gasping for air!!!
It's a horrid nightmare!!
It just seems so surreal.
What exactly is the deal?
Is this where I die??
Please no! Let me try..
to just take a breath!
I'm not ready for death!!
I mean I love you Mama
But I rather be with you much later
Cause I can't just leave my daughter!
Can you feel it Mama?
This weight on my back!
On my chest; on my neck!
On my soul; on my people
It's like there's no respect...
For my person
Pinned to the pavement
Flashbacks of enslavement
Whips and white hoods
And running through dark woods
Dogs in the distance
But in this here instance
I give no resistance
Someone tell me: What year is this?
Can you believe it Mama?
Is this what they call service??
Is this how they "protect" us?
Is this why they wear badges?
This is straight up sadistic!!
What are we? Just statistics?
Michael, Philando, Eric?
How blatantly barbaric!
No more! Please!!
Mama, I'm coming to meet ya!
I can't hold on any longer
All I can think of are my children
If I could just tell them...
one more time that I love them...
But I c..an't ... br...
The Call
Emanuel Haxey Salamat
I call with my magical ancestral voice
For the awakening of those who still wonder aimlessly
Within the mire of colonialism
To employ their inherited power of divine spirit
To heed the words of conscious roots
To seek the truths of wonders revealed
To believe the echoed waves of stubborn facts
To surrender to sounds of a new awakening
To minister the fire of an unwavering thirst for knowledge.
I call with my magical ancestral voice For the undefined march to a freedom call
To the glorious reality of an invincible chapter
To the determined lives of the 'no more conquered'
To the fight for glory that victory offers
To the ideal achievement of a new era
To the attained mind of hope, not despair
To the sovereign cause of a breed reborn
To the aspirations of a supreme birth.
And I call with my magical ancestral voice
For every square inch of African life And the noble vanguard of our heavens
For the unshackled pledge of independence
And inheritance bequeathed us by our forbearers
For the entwined Pan-Continental fraternity
With an avowed sense of dignity
And the right to self determination
For a never-fading star of continued aspirations
And no rest till this done.
I call!