Racism – Tannika Nikeya

In recognition of Juneteenth and our ancestors, here is a poem I wrote today. It is titled, Juneteenth.

Your blood called out from the fields

And the sea

From the lands of Africa to America, it travelled far.

Divided families, mutilated bodies, and broken hearts

Centuries of trauma

Loads of pain

Hard to carry

Yet, you remained

Resilient

And prayerful

You learned to communicate in songs of unity and soul

Yet all the more with routes and warnings, hope and expression

I couldn’t imagine the stress and fear you felt, let alone the depression

One by one you begin to fight

Through the tracks of a secret railroad

And the united conductors and station masters you fled

You rose, like Black Moses,

and you led

You spoke and you learned to read

Even if it meant whips and death

Your hope fought through turmoil and pain

Oppression and hate

Your bodies were weary, your souls were drained

On Juneteenth of 1865

They informed you, you were free

No longer bound by chains and slavery

Through the continued years of advocacy, hope, fight and travail,

The future generations could now excel

And be recognized for all of our contributions and the life that exist within us

The fight that exist within us

The resilience despite the plight against us.

There is still generational trauma and racism that preside

But thanks to you, our ancestors, we have learned to persevere and with God, our perseverance has not died.

We can proudly say that we love who God created us to be.

We are Black, we are human, and we are free.

I wrote this poem a couple or few months ago but made a few edits recently. This year has been said to be a horrible year, and we are just five months and six days down. This year started off rough for me and has continued on to be a challenge. In fact these past four years or so have been challenging (I use the word challenging because they were still blessings and I have learned so much). However, I remember when this year had just started a lot of people exclaimed that this would be the year of 2020 vision, clarity, the best year, and so forth. One thing for sure it has definitely been a year of clarity. It is like the curtain is being pushed back. But for me personally, this is another year of learning to trust God, another year of healing, and a year where God is drawing me closer to reprioritize and organize so that He can be first and everything else can fall in its right place. And this is the year for me to understand how to overcome and overcome those things that were draining me as well as distracting me, trying to keep me out of my destiny, and from healing and growing. So, this year is an uncomfortable one for me, and I bet it is uncomfortable for many others but this discomfort is needed. Let God open up our eyes and let God sit us down to have those personal and generational talks with each of us. Be willing and lean on Him for grace to receive His truth and His heart.

2020