Atlanta (52% Black), Philly (42% Black), Detroit (79% Black). We see you.
Under a full-court suppression meant to steal the election,
they came strong off the bench and overcame the oppression,
dropping three-pointers from the corners, their votes hit harder than Jason Bourner’s.
Yo, Kamala’s in the House, now that’s quite the rejoinder.
My credit score was 850, but it did not protect me from predatory lending.
My SAT was 1600, but it failed to shield me from grading bias.
My resume was in the top 10 percent, but it could not make employers see past my name.
My blood pressure was 120/80, but it did not help the doctor listen to my concerns.
My eyesight was 20/20, but it could not make society see me as equal.
My car was a Mercedes 550, but it did not keep me from being racially profiled while driving.
I was killed by a cop’s 9mm at a traffic stop… and that was the only number that mattered.
This piece was written in early 2020 on a tour of Cape Coast Castle, a slave fort, in Ghana. For some, walking in the place where their ancestors suffered is a traumatic experience. while we were waiting to enter, I asked my companions for their “go to” song. The song they rely on for strength in difficult times. I then set about typing furiously on my phone, weaving the titles of those songs into this prose. I read it aloud to the group, and then we set off on our tour… together.
Together we give voice to words unspoken, vision to things unseen. Together we lay open the dark heart of our history and descend into the belly of the beast that is Cape Coast Castle. Out of this womb of a people’s pain that gave birth to the Diaspora, generations lost have finally come home.
Together we begin to heal the Fragile Heart. My brothers, my sisters, this is a Song for You. The voices of our people call to us from the Throne Room of our history. Mother, father, auntie, uncle, we hear you. We Never Would Have Made It to this distant shore without you. This is Me, and this is for you.
Together we’ll hold onto each other in the darkness. Together we’ll endure this pain. And together we’ll fly up from this place of suffering into the light, and just… Stand.
grapholio X 