Rise and Claim Your Place

So my friend Brittany (from high school. not one of the 12 Brittany(eny, itti, etc)'s that I know from Hampton) recently brought my attention to a poem entitled "Rise" which is inspired by Maya Angelou (one of my favorite poets) and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She mentioned it because of the lack of faith and encouragement displayed by the educators towards the predominately African American students at the school she is teaching at.

After reading the poem, I just wanted to stand and applaud. It is great, and I have put it in this entry.

Thanks Brittany!



"Rise(Inspired by Mya Angelou and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King)"

by KD the King

ARISE


When God created me from dust and blew breath in my lungs he told me to rise and I rise,
I was deceived by the devil and kicked out of Eden and I rise,
I ate only from the sweat of my brow and I rise,
Where I was once dust I had now become King, I rise,
It rained for 40 days and 40 nights and I rise,
Dynasties flourished and fell and I rise,
I became enslaved now let me tell you how I rise,
I was forced on a boat that brought me to a land that I had never heard about or seen before,
I was sold like fruit at the market and used like a tool,
They separated me from my family and forced me to work in an unfamiliar climate,
I had to learn a foreign tongue and call men master that were physically inferior to me,
These men used their guns to put fear in my heart and snatch the crown off of my head,
I picked their cotton and in return they whipped my back,
I learned of their God that I put all of my faith in,
I heard the stories of Moses and how his God parted the Red Sea to free his people,
I was told that I was a descendant of Cane and that my skin was a curse,
Where was my God, did I have one and if so will he part these cotton fields and set me free,
Those cotton fields didn’t part and there was no Moses,
There was no burning bush but I still attempted my voyage of freedom,
Freedom that was taken away from me because I was ignorant,
They say that ignorance is bliss and that pain is pleasure but I feel nothing of euphoria or satisfaction,
I tried to leave but every time something held me back,
Then it hit me, how can I rise divided, in order to stand all parts of my body have to be in union,
What if all the parts of me would have said no to slavery, would things be different,
I learned from my history and made sure that in the future there would be no ignorance or disunion in my body,
Now I choose to better myself and always rise above adversity,
Everyday I rise and realize that I am not just a man but a Blackman with a royal bloodline,
A Blackman that was kicked out of Eden sold into slavery and told he was cursed, but still I rise,
I have scars on my face, whip marks on my back and footprints on my chest but they can’t hurt me because that happened in the past,
And I have learned that the past is exactly where it should be and that’s behind me,
My scars are only there as a reminder, a reminder that he who doesn’t learn from the past is condemned to repeat it,
A reminder that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely,
No matter how many times I rise there is always someone or something trying to hold me down,
Since the beginning of time I’ve been kicked out, knocked down, spit on and beaten,
This has done nothing but make me stronger my muscular physique is like no other,
I will no longer be denied, no chains made by man can hold me,
No man can sell me no ship can take me from my home,
You will not separate me from my family,
I will not work in your cotton fields and I will not be enslaved because I know now that slavery is all in the mind,
My mindset is on freedom and no one can tell me any different,
My skin is not a curse because I know now that Black is beautiful,
I have evolved from dust to slave to King and King I shall remain because I was meant to be,
I stand here a strong Blackman with strength so mighty that it can be felt from the cotton fields of North America to the pyramids of Egypt,
I’ve seen it rain for 40 days and 40 nights and was handed tablets from God himself,
I have parted seas by raising my staff and turned water into wine,
I have carried the weight of the world on my shoulders since God blew breath in my lungs,
Since there was light I have been deceived, caste out and crucified just to be resurrected,
I am too strong to be denied because I was never weak enough to be held down,
I am strength itself and that strength enables us to rise,
So arise and reclaim your kingdom, arise and claim what is rightfully yours,
If you won’t rise and stand for something you will fall for anything,
So arise I tell you arise,
Rise, like Jesus three days after his crucifixion, like a phoenix from the ashes, like the sun in the morning,
Rise, like the words of Dr. Martin Luther King when he had a dream,
Rise, like a bird in flight, rise like a soldiers riffle in triumph,
Rise above adversity, just because your father went to jail that doesn’t mean that you have to,
Because your mother didn’t graduate that doesn’t mean that you won’t
Our parents struggled so we wouldn’t have to, where they came up short you will go farther,
Our ancestors were taken away from their families so you could keep yours together,
I tell you to rise above ignorance because ignorance is slavery,
To my Black men don’t be a baby daddy be a father to your child and a husband to your woman,
To my beautiful black women don’t be a baby mama, be a mother to your child and a wife to your man,
To the single mothers I am here to tell you whenever you feel weak here’s my shoulder you can lean on me because I’m strong enough,
Rise above what society thinks of you, you are not a statistic; you are not a failure, you are not inferior,
You are the foundation of all civilization and the backbone of all society,
Whatever your father was or your mother may have been you are not,
You are the future, you are the possibility, you are next,
What we do in life will echo in eternity, what will your echo’s sound like,
Time stands still for mo man but when it comes to standing the test of time all you see is the black man,
I am the son of God, I am the brother of time, I am a black man and I rise.