Afrocentric - Poem...

The Charge
by Listervelt Middleton, 1995
(The last poem that he gave to ous before his transition)

(prologue: Afterwards Osiris came to Horus, it is said,
from the underworld, and equipped and trained him for
battle. Then he questioned him as to what he considered
to be the finest action, and Horus said,"To succor (aid)
one's father and mother when they have suffered wrong."
Plutarch)

Black Children
first children of the virgin mother
we celebrate your birth
we celebrate your divinity
we bring you gifts of frankincense and myrrh
we bring you golden sandals,
not reboks
not nikes

but Golden Sandals
like the ones made for rulers
like the ones made eons ago
for the boy King Tutankhamen
and Hatshpsut
when she was just a girl child
besides...

hoop dreams are not worthy of you
they have no power
hoop dreams are not dreams at all
they are what's left
when dreams are gone
they are the shell without the yolk
they are the flesh without the soul

for no man or woman that is free to chase stars
is satisfied with chasing a ball
no man or woman
that has ruled himself/herself
is satisfied with being ruled by others

Black children
first children of the virgin mother
the world that witnesses your birth
is no longer the idyllic garden
of the first generation

your eyes must focus quickly
there is little time to crawl
your hands must be put
to the work of men and women
not to the games of children
your mind to the challenge

rising on the horizon of human consciousness-
the europeanization of human thought
your charge is to stop the spread
of european consciousness,
europe's control over the minds of Akrikan people
We are prisoners of European consciousness
trapped behind enemy lines
barbed wired
inside european paradigms
barbed wired
inside european space and time
look up to the heavens

and what names for the stars and planets come to mind?
Mars, Jupiter,Saturn,Pluto,Mercury,Uranus,Neptune,
Venus
all european gods--
virtual monuments in the sky
reminding us of european "greatness"
now cast your eyes downward
and behold the plants and animals of the earth
they all bear europe's latin and greek imprints

Black children
we must not be the people who walked
but left no footprint
who talked
but had nothing meaningful to say
who labored but build nothing for themselves

and so
the builder's spade and shovel
the mason's trowel and square
Africa's books and wisdom

GO NOW AND BUILD FOR ETERNITY!

===================================

this is a poem I found in the book "African Power",
pp 54-56. by Asa G. Hillard III, Ed,D
- Nana Baffour Amankwatia II

I hope you enjoyed the reading enough to act...
Our Future is depending upon it.

Omar Shakur