By Muslim Mansa Lutalo Iyapo
It makes me wanna holler at the
top of my lungs,
but I’m guilty as charged
therefore the holler never comes.
“Helping the brother-man
against the other man” is a response I often use,
when a brother asks “what’s
happening?” or “what you been up to?”
Words followed by action even
if the action is limited to words that dare
to speak truth to power and
knock the brains out of falsehood.
It’s not and never will be all
good…
Not as long as I know my
rights,
Not as long as I’m able to give
people trapped in the dark some light,
Not as long as I’m able to hear
for those who can’t hear,
because you refuse to send new
hearing aid batteries for what he calls his “other ears.”
Not as long as I’m able to stay
focused without snapping,
Not as long as I can make it
happen through action.
Not as long as racial
disparities exist,
Not as long as… well, you
already know what’s on my list.
Now here I sit, as a
consequence of my conduct, in an empty cell,
all property boxed up in a
warehouse…
waiting for tomorrow, when I’ll
be shipped hours up north
to a different slave
plantation.
When
you’re me, you
simply acknowledge that it comes with the territory,
and shake that dirt off your
back and take a step up, just like that “donkey” story.
When
you’re me, you
pause to reflect on the few good people
you’ve met,
and come to the realization
that these people you will never forget.
When
you’re me, you
understand that it’s divide and conquer,
and yet spend more than half of
20 years in segregation and still prosper.
When
you’re me, you
don’t have time to lick your wounds because the blows are steady coming,
you train yourself to lock your
pain away deep down in your emotional dungeon.
When
you’re me, you
get down on your knees in prayer and ask for strength and wisdom.
If you have strength the size
of a mustard seed you will get all that you asked for
and then some.
When
you’re me, you
will be able to read this and say to yourself
you feel just like me,
and if you do, you’ll know that
it never was about me,
but about we.
When
you’re me.