We Did It

They said that we couldn't
That we wouldn't
That we can't
But we did
So they lied
NO longer bound to pots and pans
NO longer soccer moms and maids to our men
They said that we couldn't but we did
We have overcome the circumstance
We are now the pilots of planes,
Soaring to our Destiny
Soldiers in combat, as mighty as military men
They said that we couldn't but we did
PRINCETON and HARVARD are now within our reach
Just like roots of the tree, we are the lifeline
We were born to do more than teach
Young ladies to be seen and heard
Average, that is so absurd
They said we couldn't, yet we did
For we should scream and shout and jump about
To exclaim from the mountain tops
That we did it
For the women that fought before us
I know that they expect more of us
SEE the job is yet to be done
There has yet to be a woman
as the Head of the State
To reign and rule over United States
A woman in charge, in the chain of events
It has a nice ring
A woman in charge
In control of everything
THEY said that we couldn't
That we wouldn't
That we can't
But we did
WE DID IT

~Cameron Carter

Drowning

Submerged in a dripping, sipping
Hot Humid Heavy was the cape
Ripping Tearing Stripping to escape
Stifling Suffocating Steaming Reeling
Searching for Relief from this devastating feeling
Clean Clear Cool was the pool
Cold Crisp Clashing with the dream
My love, My dream, My life now silenced
Drowned, Diluting, Sunken pronounced
My heart burn ? a fire for change
My dream was to see my world rearranged
My love was given to those around
And my life was taken amid no sound

As I sink fully aware in the pool of my reality

As the breathe is taken with this finality

I see the surface that offers me hope
Yet I choose to sink in life not cape

***Inspired by a young woman who was shot in the head and survived and started teaching women how to read in Africa***

~Nina Roberts

Teenage Struggles

How come were so caught up on drama?
Who likes us?
Who are our friends?
Why can't it just go away?
Everybody wants to fit in
With some crowd
Just be ourselves
Why can't we
Focus on our grades
And what we want to do with our lives?
Drugs are in schools?
Because we're pressured to have A's and B's
Which is very stressful
And when you tell your parents it's hard
They tell you
"We been through worse"
What they don't get to realize is the bullying is worse now
If you don't have the newest shoes
You're poor and you get roasted on
The saying 'stick and stones may break my bones and words will never hurt me'
That's a lie how come there more suicides in high school
Can it all Stop?

~Special K

For Word

Thank you for the words I read
Thank you for the words I need
Thank you for the words so great
Thanks for words that raise debate,
Thanks for the words on my bookshelf
Thanx for the words I make myself
Thank you for words that make me cry
And words that leave me feeling dry.

Thanks for words that do inspire
And those words that burn like fire
Thanks for all the words I note
Thank you for all the words I quote,
I thank you for the words like me
Thanks for words that set me free
And I thank you for words like you
I always need a word or two.

Thanks for words that make things plain
And words that help me to explain
Thanks for words that make life fun
And words that help me overcome,
Thanks for words that make me rap
Thanks for words that make me clap
Thanks for words that make me smile
Thanks for words with grace and style.

Thanks for all those words that sing
Thanks for words are everything
Thanks for all the words like this
And little sloppy words like kiss,
Thanks for words like hip-hooray
And those cool words I like to say
Thanks for words that reach and touch
Thank you very, very much.

~Benjamin Zephaniah

Love Poem for My People

Do not let artificial lamps
make strange shadows out of you
Do not dream
if you want your dreams
to come true
You knew how to sing
before you was issued a birth certificate
Turn off the stereo
this country gave you
it is out of order
Your breath is your promised land
If you want to feel very rich
look at your hands
that is where
the definition of magic
is located at

~Pedro Pietri

Literary Libations

Honor and Praise to the Most High
Who is known by many names and
Worshiped in many ways
The One Source and the One Force
Through which we live, move, and have our being.

Honor to the Ancestors, as well.
For there is an African Proverb which says,
"If you stand tall, it is because we stand
On the shoulders of our Ancestors."

The African Origin of Our Faith
Chike Akua