Mahogany Blessed, S.O.S.
“Wade in the water. Wade in the water, children. Wade in the water. God’s gonna trouble the water.” ‐African American spiritual A shredded flag is hoisted upon my moonbeamed blazing trident. High shine lye bind a vessel with power over bay which leaks Blacks braying cracks lash lacing fishing within misty minds. I find [...]
A steady anger burns within me Welling up from deep Deep inside Three-fifths of a human being The sacred constitution of the Red, white and blue Walking into a room My blackness goes My blackness goes Goes before me Those of the majority Not all Not few But many Still do not see See me [...]
Continue reading …1. Let’s start with the obvious: The author is a white male, part of a group whose voice is vastly overrepresented in the media. Instead of reading yet another piece from a white male perspective, why not read something written by those whose voices are either not heard or marginalized. 2. Chances are, if you’re [...]
Continue reading …Black raw diamond Flowing unchecked deep beneath Middle Eastern lands Will be the end of us Addicted to the pleasures Of easy living, not thinking about the Price paid in sweat, tears and Blood Like heroin, crack cocaine Attracts users laying their souls bare Before the lure of temporary pleasure A sure path to death [...]
Continue reading …Caribbean black living Isolated in white suburbia, My white neighbor smiles But not with her eyes Hides so as not to speak; I accept Why? To be accepted, To be liked To be respected To be liked? Yet I am rejected, Sincere smiles, conversations, Emotive hand-waves saved for Those who look Like her; she is [...]
Continue reading …A poem by Christy NaMee Eriksen An illegal immigrant Looks like a nickel Tails up On the sidewalk Fallen out of someone’s pocket. She looks like pressed bleached sheets On cheap beds Tucked tight A hundred of them Twelve stories high. I saw one like a mango Peeled and sprinkled with chili powder On a [...]
Continue reading …The land that’s yours is mine, is shadows, which I see both dreaming and in the night when drums make our old selves dance, bring us to embrace those old ghosts weaving through. No one owns them or us, nor the fearful asymmetries of our lineage, of our Caribe we left for new callings, a [...]
Continue reading …Being interracial in Canada is about crossing borders: some imaginary, and some rigidly imposed. It is also about juggling with hyphens and margins, and struggling to carve out a space in Canada’s proclaimed multicultural imaginary – a space that, as many might argue, is largely make-believe in that it makes us believe that it’s better [...]
Continue reading …An Open Poem Response to Smokey Robinson Smokey Robinson’s original poem There’s no shame in taking on another new name Because each new identity increases our game Sojourner Truth Frederick Douglass Ntozake, Amiri B. Malcolm X, Martin Luther and Assata, you see? But you don’t understand That the swapping must be Unless you want us [...]
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