I Come From a People
“I Come From A People”
Written by Kim Tipton Scott
I come from a people...
Forced to labor from sun up
‘till after it had gone down
and from the fruits of this
involuntary servitude
cotton...tobacco...and cane
an entire country was built
with their bare and blistered hands.
I come from a people...
Men...women…even Children
with limbs big and strong
but spirits even stronger
and though beaten
and sometimes near skinned alive,
never could be broken.
I come from a people...
Mamas…Big Mamas…Aunt Jemimas
Born with that kind of faith
that could move mountains
and just like those trees
planted by the mighty waters
they could not be moved.
I come from a people...
Hated simply for the color of their skin
but continued to say it loud,
“I’m Black and I’m proud,”
‘cause BLACK is so
so beautiful…so beautiful…so beautiful
which is why white folks sit out in the sun.
I come from a people...
Criticized…dehumanized…victimized
called everything but a child of God
but kept on singin ’and a shoutin’
“Sticks and stones may break
every last one of my bones
but those mean ol’ words of yours
will never hurt me!”
I come from a people...
Who as the ol’ folks use to say
had nothin’…nothin’…nothin’
but a wing and a prayer
but somehow made a way
out of no way for their children,
and their children,
and theirs to be…FREE!
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