"I Am Africa"

For every poem, or anything else I write, there is always a story behind it. This poem, "I Am Africa," comes from the different experiences and conversations I have had with people. Now, a lot of times when a person like myself is very self-affirming, as far as culturally and consciously, there is a tendency to romanticize the African continent. I would hope that this poem does not do that, but does justice to our cultural roots.

I Am Africa (I Am The Motherland)
I am...I am the mother...I am the mother of existence...Of Civilization.My children are kissed by the sun...Caressed by beauty.Yet many of my children fail to acknowledge me.

I am Africa

I am the motherland.I was the mother even when I was... Named something else... Before someone decided to call me Africa. My children are spread all over the world.And they crossed oceans before anyone else ever crossed them. Explored valleys before anyone else ever explored them.Created what no one else could ever create. But my children were never rewarded.Many of my children were ripped away from me. Locked, chained, sold, tortured, raped, and executed...For profit. Robbed, massacred, exploited, exiled, imprisoned, and disenfranchised... For the sake of "manifest destiny."Some of my children even helped in the terror.And they don`t remember...They can`t. My children have been conditioned to forget...Taught to vilify me. Many of those who have been reminded, don`t want to remember.But I am still The Mother.The Olmecs (Ulmecs), the Mayans, the Aztecs, the Incas, Teotihuacan, Yoruba, Ibo (Igbo), Bantu, Berber, Nilotes, "the Aborigines."(My children)Haiti to Mali, and Nigeria to New York, and Grenada to Ghana.From South Carolina to South Africa.From Cuba to the Congo.Mexico to Mozambique. California to Cameroon.Massachusetts to Madagascar. Libya to Louisiana.Brazil to Botswana. Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic to Ethiopia and Sierra Leone.Jamaica to Kenya. From D.C. to Guinea. Tunisia to Tennessee. Belize to Benin.Ecuador to Egypt... Yes, Egypt, too. I am the Mother, the Father, the Children. I am the roots of humanity.

I AM AFRICA!

2003 J.A.G. & Eastside Productions (c) Black/Latino/Aboriginal Thoughts Unlimited (c)