"I believe young people come first. They have the courage where we fail."For months my internal struggle has intensified, as I struggle as Black person, as mother, and artist to find what it is for me to do. As I grapple to find a way to add my voice to this critical conversation and protest, a dear friend and fellow storyteller, Emily Hooper Lansana, told me of a movement by Black Poets. Black Poets Speak has galvanized and organized poets to submit videos of poetry recitations that speak to the continued injustice in this country that seeks to dismiss black lives and perpetuate white supremacy.
Each video opens with the poet stating, "I am a Black Poet who will not remain silent while the nation murders Black people. I have a right to be angry. I have a right to be sad. I have a right to express my feelings." Below is a video from one of the poets, Natasha Ria El-Scari. May her words serve you.
Ella Baker's words once again seems fitting.
"Not needing to clutch to power. Not needing the light to shine on me. Just needing to be one in that number to stand up against tyranny."
2 comments:
The title, "The Secret Life of Black Mothers," says it all. I closed my eyes and listened, connected, and fully understood her struggle... my struggle... our struggle. As I opened my eyes, I remembered what the late Maya Angelou said:
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
And, I was encouraged!
#BlackLivesMatter
YESS ! We are connected in our pain and in our destined rise out of the ashes.
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