I Know a People

There is no storytelling skill enough
To sanitize a struggle and a stride
When there’s a narrative that echoes the ache
Of callous centuries and low ceilings.

I know a people that can pour pain into sound,
Nuanced and profound.
We authored rhythm and blues,
Took scripture’s good news
And made a genre of gospel.

Call and response as a musical conversation,
Then made more genres across radio stations.
Our gestures gave you Jazz.
We chiseled semantics into Hip Hop.
We envisioned limbs into breakdance,
Then pioneered spoken word
To make our voices heard.

I know a people who whip up delectable things,
Cuisine that could make a weary soul sing.
We sow solace in our stews,
And we’re masters of slow-smoked BBQ.
Banishing anything bland from this land,
Wealthy with seasons, spices, and earthy herbs,
Making fried delicacies with fish and birds.
We are a people of black-eyed peas,
Of mac and cheese,
Of collard greens,
Even Vegan things.

I know a people of soul and swag.
We make magic of things mundane.
We spit out a saying—
And it becomes a trend.
We fashion a style—
Then it’s gone viral,
Suddenly something for society to copy.
We make memes that are unmatched
And Twitter accounts that clap back.
Even aside from our words,
Our communication lives in our body’s verbs.
We can converse with our eyes,
Speak with our necks,
We lace language in our fingertips.

I know a people that the world would like to make a myth of,
But good luck against our grit.
We are a people that can pull a protest from our battered bones,
Make our mouths bloom revolutions,
Call a country’s bluff and unmask this land’s illusions.

We puncture silence with our nonviolence.
See - we know how to build a boycott,
Stage a sit-in, make a march, fashion a freedom ride,
Conjure up ceasefires, aggravate apartheid.

We feud with unfairness, infiltrate ignorance,
And contend with your conscience,
So catalytic that other folks take notes.
They catch our combustion, recycle our sound;
Begetting their own liberation.

I know a people who live alongside a sense of stacked odds,
But we we bravely and boldly build a story beyond harm.

I know a people who are more than their resilience.
We are a people of Blackness, beauty, and brillia-nce.