AS IS SUN, SO ARE WE

CATEGORY

life

AS IS THE SUN SO ARE WE…

Uprooted from the richness

Of the nourishing soils

Of Mother Africa,

Chained and replanted as if

A forest of shackled

Enslaved trees of people,

The American branches

Of our black trees of life

Have—over millennials—

Overcome, survived,

And flourished during

The treacherous seasons

Of collateral damage this land’s

Racist, politico-economic-social

And cultural weathering 

Of human deforestation

Has rained upon them:-

Yes, over centuries of slavery

Post emancipation Jim Crow

Segregation, denial of voter rights,

And racist murders, our hued

Our American branches,

Nourished by their African roots,

Have survived;

Bloomed flowers of hope,

And produced seeded fruits

Of divine liberation;

And today, our Black Forest

Continues to grow and harvest:

Seeds are still sowed; 

Stems are still growing;

Saplings are still reaching the sky;

And sages still remain standing by:-

With our American branches,

Nourished by our African roots

And with the graces of God,

We’re still here…Rising!