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!