Blackness, my brother, is not a fact of trite science-
It is more than a pigment of skin. It is a way of life!
It is a cloak of an infinite state worn by our kind-
Born of a tragic tradition of systemic denigration,
By centuries of living on the wrong side of history
But I am black. And I am proud.
Blackness, you say is no more than a charred hue-
An aftermath of birth beneath a burning sun
A shield sewn to skin by Sol’s furious flames
Alas you can be no more wrong!
Blackness you tell me, is not a battle scar
That I should wear like a badge of gallant valor,
To flaunt in people’s faces like a warrior’s spear.
Black consciousness, you hold, is an empty spin
A wanton ideal to nourish shadowy wannabes
A wand to cast fashionable illusions of intellect
A respite for famished consciences-
Far from it, black pride is about consciousness …
Blackness is a heritage
A legacy of resilience in the face of adversity
It is a heroic story of a people’s stoic buoyancy
Of a people cast in a sea of endless tempest
Who learnt to make juice of life’s lemons.
It is a story of a proud people-
Who took the harsh whips of slave drivers,
And sang hearty songs that soothed the soul.
A people who took the horrors of colonial occupation
And made proud nations- measure for measure.
Nay, my pride’s not born of solidarity with lost children.
My consciousness is neither gifted by fevered books
Nor some play of social script on trendy conversation;
I wear my blackness with pride,
Because amid the falling bombs and landmines
Our gentle smiles still light the sky every waking sun.
Because amid failing states and treacherous leaders,
Relegated to subsist at the bottom of the food chain;
We still find a reason to dance and make merry.
I am proud of being black
Because blackness is strength-
A sturdy mark of endurance!
My blackness is not a state,
To
explain away with science-
It is a presence of mind.
It is a symbol of love-
Of triumph amid torment
Of poverty spiting passion
Of shining sun on rainy day-
I am black and I am proud-
Because blackness, is our way of life!
©2011
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