Remember the revolutionary 60's
when we were fighting to be accepted as
human beings
i mean free from a system
who hated the hues of us
you know the black, brown, yellows, and reds of us
the glory of us
what makes us, us
the essence and beauty of us
in the 60's when we carried our africanness on
our sleeves
in afroed dashikis and black turtle necks
i mean the power of us
handshacking for hours
and nodding affirmations from
across the street
down the way
around the corner
through the alley that led to the 2 fer 1 bar
that guaranteed a weekly
weekend saturday night fight
or stabbing, or shooting or something
where someone had to be admitted to the hospital
the wheels of genocide already in motion
played out to a righteous sound track
done by James Brown or Marvin Gaye
tahts gay with an e
and backdrop of pyramids, the nile and zimbabwe
that blossomed the mouth of the sudan
that pushed winds and opened
thenight for us
in its neon, blues and pinks
that read miss minnie's barbeque
or poppa doc's ladies night every friday
in cardboard houses, upstairs and to the left
to get the best weed in the northern hemisphere
back down the stairs, outside near the tree
with the hole in its side that resembbled a
vagina to blue light basement partys
that cost a dime,a quarter if you want
chips, soda and shit
red lipstick and men standing on street
corners in dresses and really big heels
waiting for sailors to port, and pretend
they didn't know they were with a man
and greasy doo rags singing the hit parade's
a list of race music
the smells of frying chicken and burned
hair, and dixie peach
and switch blades and stupid ass
elvis movies, penny candy
35 cent cigarettes
5 cent loaves of bread
and the sting of in your face racism
daily, everyday,morning noon and night
hatred taught to two year olds
as they whispered niggers when we walked by
vietnam and protest songs sung to every beat
known to man
vlack civil rights marches turned into
civil wrongs
that assignation of Malcom x
and martin luther king jr
and medger evers,
and the many ancestors who were
hung from oaks and willows
the killings at kent state
the murder of the black panther party
the decline of the nation of islam
the pitting of black against black
in a hostle takeover
because nothing seemed to be right
for them
until we were done
the government filling our streets
with ghetto drugs
head nodding, arm scratching
nose running, dick sucking
holy rolling, speaking in tongues
ass fucking drugs
way past the rich man's aspirin
way past being cheap
and with one sack
the needles are always free
big cars, big blocks
midnight parties, after hour spots
white men riding through the hood
in fancy cars trying to pick up
a young black thang
for some slave reenactments
ah oh masters in the slave house again
making dreams deferred
and justice biased
like its not enough
that they kidnapped us
restructered us, brainwashed us
and you thought it was the t-bird
or the mad dog 2020 that made us go insane
red black and green
burned haloes of hope
around our hearts
of living life as we thought
it could be
as we read that it should be
and some of us survived,
but most of us died
or lay in jail partitioned off by the iron
and steel
grabbing ankles out of fear
and singing praises of what could have been
if only we agreed to disagree
to be different enough to be indifferent
and settled our differences like family
under one umbrella
if only we united
with one goal, one passion
one revolution, one love
one soul, one people.