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How I Do!
A poetic response to a writing prompt.
This poem was inspired by the above image shared and distributed to the participants of the Sunrise Scribe weekly writing group I belong to hosted by my soul sista Fisiwe Zwana held every Tuesday and Friday mornings at 7:15 am EST.
How I Do!
Not to toot my own horn
but I’m all dat
and this is how I do
you see, survival was ingrained
inside melanin DNA
generations ago
where arbitrary eyes
deemed us
less than human
seeing us only as
naked pagan savages
to be disconnected from
Mama Africa’s shores
for Christianity’s sake
as families were separated
on auction blocks
to the highest bidder
chattel was what we became
to gain redemption/salvation
boarding angelic trains
where our rewards
would await us in Heaven
after eternal servitude
because slavery was
for our benefit
so we were told
so we were fed
lies to deceive us
from Emancipation Proclamation
and 14th Amendment
declarations declaring us
to be free where there was
and still is no justice for just us
since we weren’t passengers
aboard the Mayflower nor
were we born on the 4th of July
but little did they know
resilience flows
through our veins
adapting to any atrocity
meant to belittle us
meant to destroy us
despite being chained
to keep us in bondage
despite being whipped
to keep us obedient
despite Jim Crow laws
to keep us separate and unequal
despite not being…