We Must Be Allowed To Tell Our Own Stories

Today, in this country, with its terrible history of mistreating people of color, OUR African American President of The United States Of America, spoke about being African American in American. (Epic Moment!) I listened to him, and he got it right.....

I really think that you have to be African American in the US in order to know what it is like to be African American in the US. I have always wanted people to understand this extra weight, called Black in America, that we carry around. And rest assured that is a weight that I carry with honor, because it makes me stronger, and I would not trade it for anything. But, to hear The President of The United States say that he knows how it feels to be racially profiled, because it has happened to him, speaks volumes. I hope the world was listening as he spoke about the Trayvon Martin verdict and being Black in America. (We finally have a leader who knows this walk!)

After listening to The President, I listened to Nikki Giovanni recite her poetry on CD, and I must share this poem "Nikki-Rosa," because I think that it is quite appropriate right now:

Nikki-Rosa

BY NIKKI GIOVANNI

childhood remembrances are always a drag   

if you’re Black

you always remember things like living in Woodlawn   

with no inside toilet

and if you become famous or something

they never talk about how happy you were to have   

your mother

all to yourself and

how good the water felt when you got your bath   

from one of those

big tubs that folk in chicago barbecue in   

and somehow when you talk about home   

it never gets across how much you

understood their feelings

as the whole family attended meetings about Hollydale

and even though you remember

your biographers never understand

your father’s pain as he sells his stock   

and another dream goes

And though you’re poor it isn’t poverty that

concerns you

and though they fought a lot

it isn’t your father’s drinking that makes any difference   

but only that everybody is together and you

and your sister have happy birthdays and very good   

Christmases

and I really hope no white person ever has cause   

to write about me

because they never understand

Black love is Black wealth and they’ll

probably talk about my hard childhood

and never understand that

all the while I was quite happy

We Must Be Allowed to Tell Our Own Stories...