N Is For Nothing

Jackie Robinson could not have stolen bases If he did not first steal the attention of the press Martin Luther King could not have dreamed equality in races If he did not lie awake thinking how to express Rosa Parks never could have taken her seat If at first she had not taken a stand Equality is within or grasp It's all we know to demand But it's reaching a point where equality is not. The chains of racism are getting more and more taut. This event I'm writing is one we haven't reached. This lesson to be learned is the one that I must teach. It is possible for a man to go his whole life Not truly knowing what his skin color means That is called ignorance. I see us in the future standing, knowing our skin But not even needing to, that is my dream. That is called freedom. For every black man who grew crops to reap them, proud that he was black when he did it, is silly. He should be proud that he grew crops, that happen to be the same color as white men who grew them, in order to keep his family from starving. Negritude was put into black culture for a time and a reason, but we must move past it once black men and white men can stand together for the same cause. Soon, when we can fully grasp it, patriotism will outshine negritude in what will be the most proud moment of negritude. That moment is one where negritude is no longer a necessity. Slavery is no longer an option. Nigger is no longer a word. “N” is for nothing.