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For Baraka
(Recent Poet Laureate of New Jersey)
11-28-02.
poets—like prophets
are never loved
in their own country.
or shall we say century
when they still must face
bush/MentaL poly/tiKKKs
and right wing imperialists
wanna slay the voice of Truth
speakin directly to
the spiritual and cultural needs
of the people.
Words become lethal
especially when infused with
hate
propaganda
slander
or lies
mcgreevey wants to put a cap
on free speech
just like the blinders in his own eyes.
yeh. real proof
that poems can kill.
see how Common Sense burns
the ill-fated retina
of a slow yet dyin breed.
funny how the beast
thinks itself immune
to the kind of karma
that results from years of
rape
murder
lynching
CA/PITA/LIZM
exploit/a/shun
and greed.
if the people don’t call
into question how
the so-called majority rules
we subject ourselves to becoming victims—
not a figure in politics
but, rather, a politcian's brainwashed, hypnotized
and colonized negro fools.
baraka says—
a real re/vo/lu/shun is the work of the people.
and only the
people can ensure
a truly just
victory. we must reclaim
and recreate
our own images.
shape a united
Black/Consciousness
rooted in Truth
and Black Sensibility;
for the Truth
is valuable to any/body
regardless of
race or nationality.
baraka says—
we must empower
the people.
teaching them
that culture means
consciousness.
and w/out
consciousness the people shall
surely die.
and we the people say—
let this
man/poet/griot/sage/
and
humanbeing.
let this
prophet/healer/king/
and
nation/builder
claim his
rightful place
and receive his
just due upon the throne.
challenging us
all to POET-ON
to see and
praise
what dark,
soulful, and eternal Beauty
lies deep
Within
while a
searing, ‘innocent’ AMERICA
(frantic and
terrorized)
desperately
tries to wash her hands
free of blood,
cruelty, sickness, and sin.
Copyright 2002. Jamie Walker. All Rights Reserved.
Jamie Walker is a poet and author of 101 Ways Black Women Can Learn to
Love Themselves. She can be reached directly through her website
http://www.jamiewalker.org |
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