Black History Poem

Tell Me America, Where is the African?

Where is the African you took from my shore?

That ingenious fighter the world once adored?

I hear he is endangered, sleeping in jail,

Dying on the streets, by bullets assail.

Where is the , you took form my shore?

That proud man, the world once adored?

Crack cocaine, he’s into these days?

Marijuana! Illegitimate babies? Not part of his race.

Where is the you took from my shore?

The proud strong man the world once adored?

They say he is lazy, unable to learn,

What is he eating? Where does he live?

Who teaches his children?

By whose law does he live?

Where is the  you took from my shore?

Those free youth the world once adored?

They say he’s in prison, he worships Allah?

But Allah’s people sold him, and destroyed his land!

His forefathers died at the hand.

Where is the  you took from my shore?

Where is the  man the world once adored?

Tell Him is gathering a remnant you see

A remnant of like you and like me

He is gathering us all, from the lands of the sea!

Stephen L. Williams, 1992