We have more
THE SURREAL and unbelievably cruel murder of African American George Floyd by a Caucasian cop will be indelibly etched in history. It will go down in the annals of time as the callously brutal event that became the fulcrum for a renaissance of racial disparity awareness, social change and much more citizen-oriented and humane policing. George will not have died in vain. His death will help unify the races and save the lives of innumerable underprivileged people at the hands of barbaric individuals.
It is my fervent prayer and everlasting hope that, because of this horrendous tragedy, all descendants of the African race, especially those of us displaced because of slavery, will respect one another anew and unite in solidarity through our common experiences of inequality, injustice and prejudice.
So efficient was the social reconditioning carried out on slaves that the tendency for self-hate and race hate exists to this very day. Although inexcusable, one can fathom a European descendant looking down on an African descendant because he/she was grown up to think himself or herself superior to the children of slavery. But it always gripes me and leaves me befuddled when we hate one another and fight against one another.
We need to break free of the inculcation that we are inferior. We need to end the self-hate that has led to a lack of self-respect and disrespect for our brothers and sisters. We need to remember how well we have done, in a relatively short time, despite the cards that we’ve been dealt. Although so many socio-economic barriers have been laid across our paths, as a race, we have made countless achievements and exceeded the social trajectory predicted for us based on what we had when slavery was abolished. Although we were emancipated, we remained mentally, socially and financially enslaved by virtue of prejudice and disenfranchisement.
A close friend shared that she grew up in a major Southern city in the USA that retained the slave block on main street. It was recently removed after persistent lobbying. She had to walk by it every day – a repugnant psychological ploy to remind their Black citizens from whence they came and where they belonged.
I penned this poem in response.
They want us to think that we are less, but they know that we have more …
We can, with effort, change things for the better, of that you can be sure.
They fear what God has given to us and what we can become …
So, they stacked the cards against us, but this, we shall overcome.
We have more history, it spans eons, our story is not new…
We have more roots, older, stronger, deeper and ever-spreading too.
We have more pigment to face the sun and from its rays draw strength …
We have more curling of the hair, perfect in texture all along its length.
We have more lips, so when we speak, Mother Nature will hear our call …
We have more opening, for our nostrils to inhale Earth’s breath and all.
We have more riches, in our motherland, enough to satisfy the world …
We have more citizenship, across the globe, with every flag unfurled.
We have more patience; we suffered the longest, and we’re suffering still …
We have more children, wronged the most, it’s them they maim and kill.
We have more beauty, inside and out, we radiate spirit and pride …
We have more power, deep within us, from this they cannot hide.
We have more rhythm, to dance and worship, although we are distressed …
We have more things to thank God for, it’s us who are truly blessed.
We have more saints, here among us, seeing us through this arduous life ...
We have more citizens, up in Heaven, being comforted after worldly strife.