Statements To Stimulate
It is far too easy 
To remain ignorant 
Dumb it down 
Camoflouge the truth 
And water down 
The fact 
That  
Your ancestors sacrified 
And would have felt the 
Crack 
Of a whip 
If massa saw 
Them reading 
Or heard the word 
FREEDOM 
Slip from their full lips. 
Black bodies 
Cast out in the dead of the night 
True running backs 
Without the monetary benefits 
Of being $40 million dollar slaves 
Refused to look back 
Sista Harriet's underground passage 
Would never allow that. 
Danish West Indian 
Slaves 
Laborers 
From which I descend 
Staged a Fire Burn 
And today  
I let my lighter 
Ignite the Fire 
And pay homage  
To their sacrifice – 
Think about their struggles 
When I want to complain about the 
Hardships experienced in my  
Life. 
I'm awaiting Real Revloution 
Tired of lip service 
We need less talk 
More action 
Need all of ayuh to cut out the infatuation 
With Europeans 
Time to revolt 
Like my ancestors in St John 
In 1733 
Attempting to gain their freedom 
Before my brothas & sistas 
In Haiti. 
The sun never set on the British Empire 
1778 – the ancestors on St Kitts 
1790 – the ancestors on Tortola 
British West Indies 
Plotted and executed revolts 
Grown weary of 
Slavery 
Now hundreds of years later 
We are still asking for them 
To Give Us Free 
Ayuh go ahead and hold hands 
Sing Kumbayaya 
Without me 
I'm trying to build 
Within my community, 
Inspired by Garvey 
Releasing the kinks  
In my mind 
And loving those that 
Spring from my scalp 
Each cottony corkscrew 
Stands defiant & defined 
Cornrow plaits give me 
Flashbacks – 
Rows of cotton to pick 
Sugar cane to harvest
Coal to mine 
Seeů 
Those hurricanes that 
Arrive between August 
& October 
Follow the path of slave ships 
That swayed on the ocean waves 
Like my hips 
When they gyrate to 
Music 
Calls of the drum 
The djembe 
The congo 
Why do you think that the 
Black church's music 
Sounds so soulful? 
Harmony 
Vibrations 
That connect to the soul 
Led them to sing 
Those negro spirituals. 
I look in the mirror 
Learning to wholeheartedly 
Love the reflection 
Enjoying my phenotype 
Brown skin 
Produced by 
Melanin – 
Each day I patiently rub 
Shea butter into my 
Honey brown skin. 
New World 
Afrikans 
Of various complexions 
Slave revolts in Puerto Rico 
As early as 1522 
Afrikan ancestors 
Mulattosŕ...mesitzos...boricuas 
Contributed to my genotype 
Made me this beautiful 
Morena, 
But if you ask me 
I'm simply Black 
And proud of my history