mahogany browne // nii ayikwei parkes

inspired by lil ghetto boy (excerpt)
by mahogany l. browne

if you watch a man close enough
you can see where he has been
you can liken his swagger with the path he has chosen
and link a slight limp with the details of his pain
see
you could tell by the way this brother walked
he was ready for war
guarded by the same Zulu spirit
which ignited the resistance on South African soil
though he barely knew how to locate its footprints on a map
he knew where it was in his heart
it was when he walked to the cornerstore
a sound guided him through this ghetto labriynth
the same hymn that rang out through the islands during the second Maroon War
that's when his great- great
great-great grandmother
flew from the islands with her first born barely kicking in her womb
while bullets penetrated tree trunks
blue skies
empty cries
and
brittle bones
that when she found the voice to mouth a silent prayer
for their forgiveness
and for their pain
you see this was the reason why he walked like a king
destined for greatness
his feet crunching the concrete pavement
as bulldozers blocked sun rays
caressing broken down buildings to sleep

inspired by One Nation under a Groove (excerpt)
Nii Ayikwei Parkes

I believe in one nation between the sheets
keeping needles between grooves
so they can pass knowledge on
through the tender hip-rhythmed scratches
that turn sounds into sweat-washed dreams
thrusts into orgasms, seeds into seedlings
and desires into endurance
because music like sex
is a form of resistance

So we’ve held on to chance
ignored the incessant pneumatic drill of oppression
held on when our smiles were twisted and planted
on tins; caricatures sold as real
reclaimed our identities and dreams from the void of propaganda
held on when our sons and daughters were pulled away
repackaged and sold to the next plantation
creating acres of space between generations
spaces we’re still trying cross and build real families
‘bout time we got down one time
One nation and we’re on the move

Feet don’t fail us now
‘cos the road is long and we may not get there
until we realise that humanity is deeper than skin
and though our complexion marks us as kin
we must not walk the way of the oppressor
because we’ll just end up tripping