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Title: Were you there? Post by: Sa_Sutcha on September 21, 2003, 08:11:55 AM This poem is a call and response one, like rapso (Trini) or dub poetry (J'ca). Just picture yourself encircled around the firesite and responding to the drum beat when reading.
Were you there when… When lions and elephants were our companions instead of prey Were you there When gold and diamonds were a simple commodity instead of a notorious luxury Were you there When breddas and sistas would bathe in the river naked without dirty thoughts springing forth Were you there When my sistas were queens and princesses, instead of bitches and whores Were you there When prostitution was not the oldest profession Were you there When kings would command from the will of God and the people prospered Were you there When ancestors were respected, communicated with and guided people Were you there When we knew we were gods and strived to act accordingly Were you there When prayer was said to God the Mother and the Father Were you there Where at the side of a great man would be a great woman his equal Were you there When women once ruled alongside men and governed mighty a nation Were you there When the people sat and listened to the voices of sages Were you there When Godliness was a natural phenomenon instead of a supernatural occurence Were you there When foreign nations were taught the secrets and philosophies to which we adhered to Were you there When these foreign children bit the hands that fed them Were you there when they plundered, colonialized, enslaved, brutalized, genocized, devitalized, hypnotized, demonized, antagonized, victimized, Judainized, Islamized, Christianized and took all of the prize? Were you there?! Were you there When Kunta lost his name, his limbs and family? Were you there When Harriett led the captives out of bondage Were you there When Nani Were you there When Sojourner Were you there When Bookman, Bussa, Nat Turner, Steve Biko, Lumumba, Nkrumah Were you there When Marcus made the call to "Rise you mighty people!" Were you there When Minister Malcolm had to defend his family from the cocktail bombs I dare ask the question Were you there? But how soon we forget Would you be there? Would you be there? When the children of the Diaspora remember to honour their mother Would you be there When these children study, learn and master their ancestral legacy Would you be there When they become the masters of their destiny Would you be there When they learn to appreciate each other and their beauty, their majesty Would you be there When the uprising takes back the community Would you be there When they sing songs of liberation and true freedom Would you be there When they Prosper So rise oh fallen fighters Rise and take your stance again We who fought and run away Have lived to fight another day For this fight is a righteous fight Against the mentality which oppression has fed unto I And my children for generations I say to remove yuh back dey from d wall I say to remove yuh back dey from d wall (sing) Afrikan children be alert (X2) No time to splurt Realize your worth Reclaim your place on this earth Peace |