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a promise broken
to provide a sort of background for all im about to say, read this poem:
Strong Men
by Sterling Brown
They dragged you from homeland,
They chained you In coffles,
They huddled you spoon-fashion in filthy hatches,
They sold you to give a few gentlemen ease.
They broke you in like oxen, They scourged you,
They branded you,
They made your women breeders,
They swelled your numbers with bastards. . . .
They taught you the religion they disgraced.
You sang:
Keep a-inchin' along
Lak a po' inch worm. . . .
You sang:
Bye and bye
I'm gonna lay down dis heaby bad . . .
You sang:
Walk togedder, chillen,
Dontcha git weary. . . .
The strong men keep a-comin' on
The strong men git stronger.
They point with pride to the roads you built for them
They ride in comfort over the rails you laid for them
They put hammers in your hands
And said — Drive so much before sundown.
You sang:
Ain't no hammah
In dis lan',
Strikes lak mine, bebby,
Strikes lak mine.
They cooped you in their kitchens,
They penned you in their factories,
They gave you the jobs that they were too good for,
They tried to guarantee happiness to themselves
By shunting dirt and misery to you.
You sang:
Me an' muh baby gonna shine, shine
Me an' muh baby gonna shine.
The strong men keep a-comin' on
The strong men git stronger. . . .
They bought off some of your leaders
You stumbled, as blind men will. . . .
They coaxed you, unwontedly soft-voiced. . . .
You followed a way.
Then laughed as usual.
They heard the laugh and wondered;
Uncomfortable;
Unadmitting a deeper terror. . . .
The strong men keep a-comin' on
Gittin' stronger. . . .
What, from the slums
Where they have hemmed you
What, from the tiny huts
They could not keep from you —
What reaches them
Making them ill at ease, fearful?
Today they shout prohibition at you
"Thou shalt not this."
"Thou shalt not that."
"Reserved for whites only"
You laugh.
One thing they cannot prohibit —
The strong men . . . coming on
The strong' men gittin' stronger.
Strong men. . . .
Stronger. . . .
i love that poem and the message within it. yet these days i have been feeling a certain way about us and so...here is something i wrote..as a reply i suppose (to see the poem in it's true form, go to my site).
Stronger
by storme
u promised
promised that after
400+ years of
oppression
400+ years of
rape and injustice
400+ years of
lynchings and hatred
and being downtrodden...
you promised me
the strong men
those who'd rise from the ashes
like the phoenix to
liberate and
give us free
i believed in those men those
strong men
i heard their footsteps filled with
purpose filled with
determination filled with
love for us
long before i came to this earth
and as i look around
i wonder....where
have all the
strong
men
gone? have they forgotten
us? leaving us
in a land not our own
a land that hates the descendants
of the very hands
who built it up
a land that would rather
spit
us
out
than swallow the
bitter truth
of all the atrocities committed
against us
where have those men gone?
those
strong
men
its like they
faded…
to…
black…
and back into the
shadows they went
lying in wait
for what i dont know
in times when fathers
are no longer
part of the family
unit
and mothers raise
hurt and
angry babies
in a society designed for their
demise
why do the
strong
men
hesitate to action?
where is the
hope?
where are the
heroes?
where are the
leaders?
where?
and when will they return
to set things right?
to guide us
towards complete freedom
to guide us
out of the darkness
to lift from our eyes
the veil of complacency
that has kept many of us
at bay
for so long?
you promised me....
the
strong
men
would keep on a-commin'
that they would just keep
gettin stronger
but what good is
strength
unseen
unfelt
unheard?
ive
waited
and
waited
for these men
these
strong
men
one can only wait
for so long
the re volution was
never televised
because
the re volution
died with the birth of the
bling
now we sing
a song for massah
again
blackface
for the 21st century
welcome to the future in past
participle
i tried
tried to hold on
tried to stay strong
and wait for those
strong
men
waiting does nothing
as we continue
to die
as we continue
to stumble in darkness
blinded
by our false
sense of comfort
our false
sense of equality
this is not the land
this is not the world
that
malcolm
martin
angela
rosa and
medgar died for...
those were our
strong men
those were our
strong women now
silenced and seemingly
forgotten
expect for the
28 days
in which we celebrate our blackness
28 days
of celebration
isnt enough
28 days
of revisiting our history
isnt enough
the days of slavery
are not so far removed
that they should be forgotten
those marches made
and children slain
and shouts for freedom
are not so far removed
that they should be forgotten
there is strength
in this blood
there is history
in this blood
there is the desire to make a stand
in this blood
lest we not forget who we are
lest we not forget where from whence we came
lest we not forget those
strong
men
of the past
the time for
waiting is over
the time for
action is now
time to
arise and
take claim of what is ours
forget 40 acres
what was promised
long ago has been forgotten
not all things shall be given
it is time to
take it
by
any
means
necessary
the strong
woman
is comming
she just
keeps
getting
stronger
Posted by Storme on March 29, 2006 11:26 AM