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