For the Millions by: Abiodun Oyewole
For the millions of Africans chained to the slaves ships. For the millions of scars on the faces by the bullwhip. For the millions who jumped overboard for the blood that poured on the shores of North America, South America, Central America, Europe, and each ripple in the ocean is a grave of a African who refused to a be a slave. For the millions who cut the cane picked the cotton whose names have been forgotten whose flesh has rotted with the trees they hungs us from cut out our tongues cut off our hands if we played the drums. For the millions who were shot, hung, beat to death, tar and feathered, boiled in oil, whiplashed, backlashed, crocasacked, and thrown in the river castrated mis-educated segregated intergrated legislated by the constipated by the constipated. For the millions who've been lied to denied to vampire eyed to misguied to and not abied to. So we decied to get together and change the weather not just for now but forever we decided to love each other. Stop the madness and be real sisters and brothers we decieded to stop and take a look at the beauty of ourselves at this colored skin and this thivk hair and these full lips and this Africa inside our souls still breathing the breath of Gods in our lungs. Greatness is where we're coming from. For the millions who marched sang prayed sat in lived in jailed in boycotted picketed spit at cursed at yelled at like blacks not where its at like we should be satisfied to ride in the back for the Fanny Lou Hamers and the Rosa Parks and the Eula Mae Johnsons and Eleanor Bumpers and Assata Shakur and Gwendolyn Brooks and the Martins and the Arthurs and the Deacons the Panthers and James and Langston and Richard Paul Malik Marcus and Nat and Cinque and Kunta Kinte too. For the millions who know those who have always known that no matter what "Truth crushed to Earth shall rise again" no matter how many bullets and prisons diseases and deaths no one can take our breath away we are here to stay no matter ho much liquor and crack nothing can kill the fact that we are a divine creation started civilizations built the pyramids and the Sphinx taught people how to pray and think not mention invetions we never got credit for and all the babies we raised when our own were ignored. For the millions with fire in our souls that burns so bright and the strength of our will as a dominant as the night and the rhythm when we walk and the rhythm when we talk even when we have nothing to say we utter sounds that put color and spice in the day. For the millions who are ready to turn this thing around who are tired of being tired and crawling on the ground it's time to return to our Thorone and leave this American Nightmare alone.
