Stolen from my native land

Delivered to the man; battered, bruised, broken spirited, confused & misused

Placed into captive with people I didn’t know.

Treated as if I owed them things I never borrowed,

mistreated hourly, abused regularly, living in sorrow.

forced to follow commands I had never heard.

Treated as if I couldn’t be trusted, but yet trusted to care for their children.

FORCED TO BIRTH MORE CHILDREN

Separated from our families, never knowing if; I would live or die,

Having thousands of hours where all I could do was cry.

BEATEN! BEATEN! RAPED! TORMENTED always experiencing HATE!

Despite the disadvantages, I grew! I learned the things you never knew!

Called lazy, yet I did all the work! I built the buildings & developed the land you would call Great!

Made to feel less than every minute of my life; but through my sacrifice you built generations of wealth.

While my generations experience poverty, lack, limitation, fear, hate and lack of a formal education.

Yet I STILL found ways and reasons to hope! I invented, I created, I made myself invaluable!

Yet you belittled, grew angrier (if that was possible) found more creative ways to hurt me even made it illegal for me to learn!

EVEN IN THE DARKEST OF TIMES; WE BIRTHED LEADERS:

• HARRIET TUBMAN
• SOJOURNER TRUTH
• FREDERICK DOUGLASS
• BOOKER T WASHINGTON
• W.E.B. DUBOIS
• MARCUS GARVEY
• TUSKEGEE AIRMEN
• GEORGE WASHINGTO CARVER
• ZORA NEALE HURSTON

You soon learned my greatness couldn’t be stopped & your misery grew when the slavery was stopped!

Just out of slavery, you tried all you could to stop me!

JIM CROW,

DISCRIMINATION TACTICS,

SEPARATE BUT EQUAL, which was really  SEPARATE BUT UNEQUAL

MADE IT ILLEGAL FOR ME TO GET EDUCATION when that didn’t work you have me a 2^nd hand education!

DENY RIGHTS AFFORDED TO AMERICANS despite the fact we BUILT AMERICA!

For every turn of the furnace of hatred toward my people,

We answered the call RUNNING THROUGH THE FIRE!

• ROSA PARKS
• RALPH ABERNATHY
• THURGOOD MARSHALL
• FREEDOM RIDERS (Both Black & White)
• MALCOLM X
• HUEY P.NEWTON
• BOBBY SEALE
• RICHARD ALLEN
• MAYA ANGELOU
• JAMES BALDWIN
• THE LITTLE ROCK 9
• RUBY BRIDGES
• DR. DANIEL HALE WILLIAMS
• OCTAVIUS V CATTO
• MEDGAR EVERS
• LANGSTON HUGHES
• DR. MARTIN L. KING, JR

A LIST of too many to name them ALL!

WE THRIVE, You burn our progress

WE REBUILD, you change the game

WE RISE TO THE OCCASION,  you work to steal it from us again!

YET, TIME & TIME AGAIN, WE LIVE UP THE WORDS EMBODIED IN MAYOU ANGELOU’S POEM

STILL I RISE!

I understand why AmeriKKKa hates me!

I AM THE PROMISE

I AM THE DREAM

I CANNOT BE STOPPED

YOU HINDER ME FOR A MINUTE & I BOUNCE BACK FOR A DECADE

YOU SLOW DOWN MY PROGRESS, BUT YOU CANNOT STOP MY PROCESS

DESPITE THE HATE,

I CONTINUE TO BE GREAT

I AM THE BLACK WOMAN, MAN, BOY, GIRL

AND

I AM HERE TO STAY!

NOT IN THE ORIGINAL FORM, BUT I AM MOTHER, NUTURER! I GIVE LIFE, I REBIRTH AND I’M REBORN!

I AM THE BLACK WOMAN & MY DESTINY HAS YET TO UNFOLD!

Author:  Kimberly Guy Davis