The Human Kind
Human Kind
Ndeye Fatou Coundoul
I’m here to challenge your mind
And take you back to a time
A time were our ancestors voices were trapped in an island
Called Gore
Located in West Africa
You can almost hear the cries to this day
As you make you way
To the slave house
A time when families were separated
Mothers and daughters never made it
Fathers and sons could take it
If you weren’t push in the sea with rocks tied to your feat
If you weren’t beaten to death
Starved
Overworked or
Force to give up virginity
To a man who in his eyes you were only an object
To be played with
To be control
To be abused
The human Kind
The kind whose mind has been poisoned throughout time
The kind were at times I’m shameful to call mine
Because we fail to recognize what’s really important
You can ask anyone and they might not let you know
How the stories really goes
Since all we do is breath, wine and dine
People are now comfortable enough to stay behind
While every part of us screams in rage to never look back
Maybe its defense mechanism
Curiosity killed the cat
To never dig deep into our backgrounds
I don’t know how many times I told them that I wasn’t black
But brown
Historic textbooks will never leave you clues
Dictate the things you do
The way you think
Change of topic
Let’s talk about how the titanic sink
History Refused
To interpret the blues
Covered up the bruises
Failing to recognized the symbols and the signs
Because technically humanity is “blind”
When lies and shame have been combined
Doubt and insincerity are next in line
To believe that slavery was a trade and a tragedy
But failing to remember that slavery
Happens to be more than just an event
Fast forward to 2014
People are raised in the land of racism and hypocrisy
Where people aren’t afraid to repeat a broken history
A place where the truth has always been clear
But people chose to label as a mystery
A land where lies are praised
Murderess gets away with murder
As we count of the days of the deceit
Feeling hope but only to end up feeling deceit and defeat
While this never ending cycle rinses and repeat
And we march with wet eyes
And clenched teeth
The blood of our loved ones
Painting the streets
While we scream with every ounce of frustration
I Can’t Breath!
As sadness becomes raw anger
And our anger becomes fuel
As society continue to press play on a nightmare
That never ended
As society puts on a mask and calls me its friend
Calls me black
And pretends
To give me my rights
Just so that I won’t have to fight
And point fingers
My name is African
My name is Africa
My name is humanity
My name is peace
My name is justice
My name is love
My name is freedom
My name is equal
My name is hope
But my ancestors called me
“Free”
So how dare you try to call me “African American?”