01 October 2013

Still Enslaved


I had performed this poem at a Black History Month (BHM) event in October 2013. I love the first paragraph of this poem as it was inspired not only by the struggles of those with a different skin... but those who are considered 'different' (i.e. not accepted) by those who (wrongly) view themselves as superior because of others so called 'difference'. Different because of their accent, hair type/ still/ colour, gender, sexual orientation, weight/ size/ height and the list goes on and on and on...

Still Enslaved

We rose out of freedom
Yet we still walk these streets enslaved like modern day slaves
Shackled to the ball and chain of discrimination
Into a system that judges difference down the tip of its nose

We rose out of freedom
Yet the next generation have no idea where they come from
The land that their parents and grand-parents walked on
The real story that needs to be told across this nation
Its not all about us packed liked sardines on slave ships riding the rough cold seas

We rose out freedom
Yet we still frown at our own reflection
Unhappy with the image watching and wishing
Ourselves to be in a completely different skins

We rose out of freedom
Yet a sense of us and I has been lost in this diversity
Buried in the realms of multi culturalism
The negativity of the melting pot ideology
We need to be passing down our culture and history to the next generation

We rose out of freedom
Yet low self esteem is consuming our daughters
Unhappy with the kink in their hair and the black features that makes them
They are beautiful and they need to be told
They are beautiful

We rose out of freedom
Yet as a community we are dis-united
Diseased by divide and conquer are we
Fooled into believing we are better than the other are we
It is time to truly love your brothers and sisters
Because together we stand and divided we fall

We rose out of freedom
We rose out of freedom

And like Mayo Angelo once cried
Still we shall rise


Copyright © 2013 Sonneteer Articulates (aka Traysi Matthew, Traysi Speaks) 
All rights reserved. No portion of this post may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or by otherwise without the express written permission from Sonneteer Articulates (aka Traysi Matthew, Traysi Speaks)

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