The house on a hill
Augusta to Atlanta
Aim is to build men
Year 1867
Forever, Dear Old Morehouse
Categories:
morehouse, black african american, blessing,
Form: Tanka
(at risk of life and limb) against scourge of
racial prejudice courtesy
of sharecropper grandparents
whose objection to racial segregation
based on an affront to the will of God,
whereby the young whip smart precocious lad,
(whose impact we now memorialize)
showed his true colorful promise
when a young student at
Liberal Crozer Theological Seminary
in Chester, Pennsylvania
where the yet uncrowned
eminent king came under the influence
of theologian Reinhold Niebuhr,
a classmate of his father's
at Morehouse College
who became a mentor by exposing
his protégée to liberal views of theology
planting the seeds of ardent activism
that gave rise to
The Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC),
an initial platform
allowing, enabling and providing acclaim
hoisted up by petard
invariably only heightened
(his) posthumous status
as thee most articulate orator
spelling binding the listeners
with his metaphors about his emphatic march
to a promised land where all
men/women could be brothers/sisters
and no person will be judged
by the color of his/her skin
raising morale of many dirt poor
ebony masses to feel a glimmer of hope.
Categories:
morehouse, 10th grade, 11th grade,
Form: Free verse
Streaking, dashing, breaking away
Up, up the tempo, the McClendon way
Getting wide and filling the lanes
Assisting the open man with two points to gain
Upbeat, back and forth, fast, and then faster
Sitting and watching, a spectator's delight, as they witness a creation by the 'Flow Master'
Yes! Breaking away the McClendon way
Away from stereotypes and public naiveté
Dark skin was a 'NO' for many, like the likes of Duke, Georgetown, Temple, and St. Johns
But Morehouse, Fisk, Howard, and other HBCUs were an emphatic 'YES' for 'McClendons.'
The likes of Bob Love, Cleo Hill, Oscar Butler, The Pearl, Sam Jones, John Chaney, Harold Hunter and so many more
O' McClendon's Break, history indeed; now 'Black Magic' at HBCUs is the heretofore
McClendon's Break extended far beyond 94 feet
His astounding 4 W's made playing that much more sweet
The Who, What, Why, and Where
McClendon's Break, oh so rare
Categories:
morehouse, basketball, beautiful, black love,
Form: Rhyme
Morehouse grad who reached the heights.
Activist for civil rights.
Rhetor, rebel, reverend.
Toiled to segregation end.
In nonviolence believed.
Nobel Prize for Peace received.
Lincoln's words inspired his theme
Uttered in "I have a dream."
Thousands march to Selma led.
Husband who Coretta wed.
Evils tried to remedy.
Rests with brothers Kennedy.
Killed by bigotry and hate.
Inner spirit celebrate.
Name today immortalized.
Greatness that too early died.
Categories:
morehouse, america, celebration, courage, leadership,
Form: Acrostic
He walks among us in Atlanta
though he be gone so long
He lives with them at Morehouse
voice echoes like a song
How ’bout Ebenezer
where his words still ring today
Martin spoke there many times
urged blacks and whites to pray
Sixteenth street Baptist
where he mourned those little girls
Murdered by the men in sheets
He speaks of them as pearls
And yes he was with Lincoln
said he had a dream
Then marched the streets of Selma
amid white racist screams
The Mason Temple Church of God
He talked of Mountaintop
Lorraine Motel in Memphis
hatred had to stop
They cut him down that day in Memphis
thought civil rights would cease
Martin’s dream of love and vision
lives on; to bring all men to peace
Categories:
morehouse, inspirationalmen,
Form: Rhyme