And We Are Still Here

AND WE ARE STILL HERE… While beating our drums—singing, dancing and giving praises to the Most High for family harvest, peace and love, we blinked—became victims of colonial rape—stolen from the womb of our Motherland; snatched like babes from their mother’s uterus; umbilical cords severed and thrown away—not buried… Stacked sardine style in the fecal bowels of ships— with desecrated faith flags flying and given blessings to return safely—some of us survived the devil’s Middle Passage Hell—stolen walking dead cargo reaching the bidding blocks to be sold into the dreaded dark death of slavery. Blood soaked cotton fields claimed countless lives, wrought to death to sustain a weary worn nation; others dangled like strange fruits from the branches of lynching trees; and there were those who were fried like beacon during clan kinky follies. Yet, we are still here—pushing onward; and we shall not be moved. (Nobody Knows The Troubles I’ve Seen…) Yes, chattel slavery, Jim Crow segregation, racial discrimination and grazing game to be stalked and shot down— ethnic genocide—have all been designed and practiced to wipe us out… Yet, we are still here—pushing onward; and we shall not be moved. (Ain’t Gon’a Let No Body Lawdy, Turn Me ‘Round) So rise up my children; know who and whose you are— Be aware and knowledgeable of the lies, mind tricks, and deceptions your ancestors have survived—know that you are the descendants of great nation builders; nation builders who have built a nation within a nation; the black building bricks: the blood, sweat and tears of their lives. My children, my children—truth’s blessings! Know that you are heirs of something precious: a great heritage; a mighty ancestry—roots. Know that you are not remnants of a dried creek bed; rather, you are the flowing waters of a mighty river— meandering through a great valley of ebony hued healing humanity; rising—forgiving but not forgetting. (Amazing Grace…I once was lost…) Yes, with amazing grace, our river is still flowing; taking us to a higher ground. And we are still here. And we shall not be moved—rooted in faith, planted like a tree by the waters—we are here and God free. And we shall not be removed from the peace, love and unity of our blessed humanity. Yes, we are still here to stay. And no devious devilish demise can up root our anchored present here. (Like A Tree Planted By The Waters)