BLACK HISTORY MONTH ALL YEAR (2023)

Revolution

By Kevin “Rashid” Johnson

There are some of us who
Appreciate the attention,
One month of the year
For our “honorable mention.”

A special recognition
Of some Black achievements,
And a few mild acknowledgements
Of our many bereavements.

But our history happens
Everyday,
The accomplishments of a people
In every field and every way.

The very ones who
built the U.S. nation,
With forced labor, brutal
Violence in every occupation.

In the cities, factories
And on slave plantations,
Even fought other oppressed people
Manned every battle station.

We’re not some inferior
Folk,
Who only deserve one month
To be ego stroked.

Acknowledging we exist
By white recognition,
As if our lives are a privilege
Based upon white folks’ permission.

In fact we are something
More than Black,
We are a nation of people
Whose identity is held back.

Cuz as a nation
We have distinct rights,
That Amerika suppresses
So we don’t stand and fight.

To assert entitlements under
U.N. conventions,
This is why we’re given
One month for honorable mentions.

As nothing more
Than a race,
A marginalized people
Who are freely displaced.

Being a nation
Doesn’t mean,
A flag and borders
Or an anthem to sing.

It means we are a
People constituted by a history,
Of distinct economic life
Culture, speech and identity.

State power does not
A nation define,
A nation is a people
Evolved together in place and time.

As distinct from other
Social groups,
Who have a right to fight
Against oppression mobilize their own troops.

We aren’t subordinate, inferior
To the Amerikan occupation,
Which is really a prison house
Of marginalized nations.

AmerIndians, Chicanos
Asians to name a few,
All of darker hue
This includes you.

The whole point of being
Racialized,
Is to strip you of your identity
To depoliticize.

Your actual status
Recognized by international creeds,
Including the right to fight
Against your oppression and even secede.

Things Amerika doesn’t want
You to know,
Because it changes the whole
Relationship of them to you.

This is why Black history
Is set aside,
To give a platform to those of us
Who prefer to hide,

Who we really are behind
Mere race,
And make it seem that we owe
Some allegiance to this place.

That has done nothing
But deny, enslave and degrade us,
Use, abuse, lie, deny
And underpaid us.

As Amilcar Cabral said
A nation of people are only free,
When they control their own
Cultural life, identity and history.

Occupational forces
Gun us down in the streets,
As we sit defenseless
In the face of unmet basic needs.

What we must see as the
Takeaway,
We are New Afrikan and as such
Make our own history every day.