Ebony and Phonics
Ebony and Phonics
Talkin’ Jive, slippin’ inta the ethnic eccentricities
of survival, hip-hop, rap, the blues, Ebonics.
Ebonics, the melding of Ebony and Phonics
into a language that could be spoken
within hearing of the overseer. Genius
spoken here, clandestine communication
lines strung in plain view. News flashes,
who ran, who escaped, who was sent and
where, who was sold. Assumed “ignorance”
displaying pure brilliance before an unconscious
audience.
Ebonics, a language shaped by hardships and
prejudice, now reduced to phrases and a
chant-like mockery of its necessity and
protection.
Ebonics, a language that preserved a spirit,
nurtured a fierce independence, fed the
flames of rage and the hopes of love.
Ebonics, a tribute to a tenacious desire to
be free, not from the chains, but from
the bondage of the chains. Free to
communicate their deepest thoughts,
their hidden loves, their seething hates.
Ebonics, lost key to railroads underground,
doors no longer found, generations in
search of freedom’s sound.
John G. Lawless
8/16/2014
for Verlena S. Walker
Ebonics – Let’s do Some Slang contest
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