Three/Fifths
(video)
This is a defensive soliloquy. (scroll down for the video)
The purpose is to speak out, in an age that many suggest is different than the era of the Civil Rights Act of the '60s, I find myself with my back against a wall, metaphorically speaking...
I, as in the broad class commonly referred to as the American black man, seem to find opportunity when I assimilate the majority culture who typically turn a blind eye to the the richness, the contribution, and sometimes to the humanity of my heritage and ancestry. Of course, that is, barring an appropriation now and again.
I am allowed freedoms so long as I identify myself and keep my hands where they can be seen. In general, however, the denial that there is any systemic profound impact upon me that keeps me from rising to my full potential succeeds in keeping me bound and shackled to a substandard existence in the land of the free. Commoditized, marginalized, vilified, and stigmatized...I am impoverished educationally, nutritionally, and economically, but I will not give in.
The purpose is to speak out, in an age that many suggest is different than the era of the Civil Rights Act of the '60s, I find myself with my back against a wall, metaphorically speaking...
I, as in the broad class commonly referred to as the American black man, seem to find opportunity when I assimilate the majority culture who typically turn a blind eye to the the richness, the contribution, and sometimes to the humanity of my heritage and ancestry. Of course, that is, barring an appropriation now and again.
I am allowed freedoms so long as I identify myself and keep my hands where they can be seen. In general, however, the denial that there is any systemic profound impact upon me that keeps me from rising to my full potential succeeds in keeping me bound and shackled to a substandard existence in the land of the free. Commoditized, marginalized, vilified, and stigmatized...I am impoverished educationally, nutritionally, and economically, but I will not give in.
I will not "go gentle into that good night..."
I will "Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
~Dylan Thomas