Brother Authors,
The broadsides we write today will be informed by facts. I struggled over the past two days to write the following broadside for the young Haitian Brothers. The broadside was sparked by a comment made by Wyclef Jean during the BET awards. He mentioned, "There is no excuse, I was born in a hut." I decided to write to the HUT BOY.
Hut Boy
by
Alfred W. Tatum
Without common birth
I sit in my hut of hope
Unphased by my scorched feet
My mind remains in tact
*Tout moun se moun
Speaks our Haitian-born leader
As he takes up the cross for liberation
My dark soul rebels
Reminding me that
I am a good person
Phillippe, they will say one day
You are the leader of this nation’s revolution
Toussaint, would be proud
Hail to you, our son of La Saline (slum).
*Haitian proverb that means every human being is a human being
Post today's broadsides under the heading - Facts and Names Broadsides
Brother Author # 1
ReplyDeleteCaged Animal?
As I sit in the unbearable heat…
While resting at my plantation I think.
I think what if I was free.
I could finally hear people call Elliot.
But now all I hear is a sudden death scream after the crack of a whip.
I feel like a caged animal.
All I ask for is to be freed.
I’m a bug under a rock.
Or a bird in a cage.
All I want to do is run free.
Brother Author # 2
ReplyDeleteMinority Majority
2.4 million BLACK Military Veterans in the U.S,
the most of any minority,
yet WE only make up 12.5% of the U.S population.
While others dodged the draft of WWII,
We fought for a country that treated US wrong.
In 1866, the *Buffalo Soldiers received second class treatment
and were given the worse assignments,
but had the least desertion rate of any regiment.
Twenty plus Buffalo Soldiers have received the *Medal Of Honor,
the utmost of any other military unit.
The last Buffalo Soldier named Mark Matthews,
died in 2005, at the age of 111.
These soldiers make me exceptionally proud of my heritage
and I salute every last one of them!
• *Buffalo Soldier- is a name respectfully given to the African–American cavalries during the 1800s by the Native American Kiowa tribe.
• *Medal Of Honor- highest medal a soldier can be given
11 and counting
ReplyDeleteThere are only 11 black Hockey players in the NHL
There are 600+ players all together
That’s it?
Barely accepted by society
Barely accepted by Hockey
I’m not surprised
Even though we do welcome you with open arms to basketball
But only 11 blacks in Hockey?
At least you made the puck black
But then again gives more reason for a white guy to slap it around
Try slapping a 360 pound 6’12 black guy around
Especially for the fact that all he wants is to bash your brain in.
Maybe you’ll think twice about slapping a black puck around and not having enough black players in the NHL.
11 and counting
Brother Author # 11
Kebra Nagast
ReplyDeleteFrom locks the Jewels of a Wailer
Captured with Mary Jane, a photographic figure
She sits on his breathe
He sits on the field, Of the worlds largest sport
His Other task has amassed 20 million world wide
Did not conceal his origin
Not prejudice of self, because half of him is also whole
Black/White
Metastasis gained placement in his breathe
Stayed in his thoughts from his feet
Wrought pain, from the game he played
In Rastafari he holds his power
None but ourselves can free our minds
Samfai, No will, Death inevitable is not a valid statement
But Eternal life is
May 11, 1981, a 36 year old man
Speaks to his son
“Money Cant Buy Life”
He sleeps with the Kebra Nagast.
Samfai- Tricksters
Rastafari- life long belief (religion)
Kebra Nagast- Glory Of Kings
Metastasis- The spread of a disease from one part of the body to another
Brother author #6
ReplyDeleteBC
BC usually stands for before christ, but in this case, B stands for black males and C stands for cocaine. People say that almost 2/3 of the black population abuses cocaine. They think that just because we’re black, we all have a bag of cocaine in our back pockets. When I walk down the street and smell marijuana in the air, I here Caucasians saying, some nigga must be lighting it up. Some people even judge you by the color of your lips. They say that if your lips are dark, you are a drug addict. But what about the other races’ addictions??
Nastradamus the Empire
ReplyDelete94’ the world is yours and that’s the first classic LP
No Columbia commercial topics such as B.I.G
Street dreams are made of All Eyez On Me
A instant hit, as far as I can see,
It was Written, Even movie featured
Took a Take Over and rebelled with an Ether
Different views, Worship you Allah
Nasir Jones the middle is Bin Olu Dara
Queens waiting at home
I Can, provide life, with one Mic
One page and one pen makes us write
For our lives. A history lesson, he said enough with the tricks
And Announced hip-hop is dead, in 2006
In fact, the last I’ve heard is a N whipped on his back
In between lashes He wrote words… strange Figures
Ones most cant appreciate Un-Titled Nigger.
Black in America
ReplyDeleteFrom wilt with speed
To Mike with hype
From 13 grammys to 100 points.
From Booker T. Washington to George Washington carver
Making stamps was no big deal
I'm sure the hall of fame was easy too
But a that just black in America
Negus that what we say when we want it are way
ReplyDeleteWalk around in front of the white man take me please
As if 3% isn’t enough to leave
Why use guns then all you do is run
Why define yourself with a negative lifestyle
Don’t let the pass shape your legacy
Or mold your destiny
Negus that your pass
Know you tell me what your furture is
Beyond your past
ReplyDeleteBy: Jordan Dillard
Negros that’s what you say to get your way
Walk around in front of the white man take me please
As if 3% isn’t enough to leave
Why use guns then all you do is run
Why define yourself with a negative lifestyle
Don’t let the pass shape your legacy
Or mold your destiny
Negus that your past
Know you tell me what your furture is
The Black Truth
ReplyDeleteBrother Author #8
As Black we are looked as things or it not people
We need to show ourselves who we are not society but ourselves,
I can show myself who I am and I know who I am
I’m a Brother, A Brother Author,
I know what I can for my community
You don’t need to be in gangs for protection
You don’t have to be a criminal to get respect
You can do a lot for respect
There is a lot of ways to get protection
Your mind is stronger than a moving bullet
Black males need to know the truth about themselves
They don’t need to be another statistic
You don’t belong in jail,
We as a nation need to show where they came from, what people did for them
The world isn’t just about girls and partying, it’s about making something of yourself
The truth can set you free, well what about the black truth?
The Silence of Words
ReplyDeletePicture me as a picture with outta frame or a figure
and in art musuems the films ought to title it nigger
title it trigger cus it fires emotions and the auctions bidden millions
cus the rich want to own it
punish me for wonderin when the clock strikes to twelve
if pictures will withstand the desolation ,of the fires in hell
listen to the jester that conspires with the king
and wraps his funnies around the queen
telll him to cage her
or drink fizz with the devil combine Coke & Major
maybe wrap my collar around the concept of Scholar
before my shackles grab my sack loads and disable a father
wonder if the elite of the stupid can tell
and wonder if our ideal of life Izreal
think about a white sky with black stars and red scars
from the slashes from colonists thats keep there ships at large
with ish marred and tips carved
from the claws of the giant
who seeked out david and embedded the title giliath
title it sky lit because with the back round its light
then black stars cant be considered a night
with full moons and slave tunes, country men clappin spoons
in the corners of dark rooms as creature wait to implement doom
go to sleep while the keeper creeps, and plans in advance
to kill the master of the houshold and stain the blood with her hands
or pray fam say A-men cus we just wont have the time
to look at Jesus in the eyes when our souls become blind
Brother Author 10
ReplyDeleteBLACK OR BLACK
Why I am black why am I the color
The world wants to hold back.
Why does hell have more light than me
I'm darker than the night sky.
Can’t you see that’s one thing?
You have to surely agree.
Push is what they all do to me.
But to Jesse Jackson
PUSH is serving humanity.
Brother Author #2
ReplyDelete7/1/09
I Hate My Race
Bobby looks in the mirror and is repulsed
by the color of his skin.
He grows up living in an all white community
wishing he was white.
He hates every single melanin and pigment cell in his body
and wishes he could lose it all.
Bobby wants to be a fire-fighter when he grows up,
but knows little about the businesses background.
I tell Bobby the fire extinguisher was panted by
a black man as was the fire ladder.
He replies but only 2.9% of N.Y.C’s fire department is Black,
but I respond that in L.A it’s 57% and 51% in Philadelphia.
I tell him do not live by the problem, but become the solution.
Now Robert starts to the feel pride of his color.
His future I can not tell,
But its led by a bright Black light.
Let’s talk Stereotypes
ReplyDeleteMalik :Hello, I’m a father, I got one son, and 4 daughters.
And since I got kids, I take care of biz.
Stan: You hear about Malik ? I hear he’s a father. But you know he’s black, so I hear that he doesn’t bother. I hear he named his son Ray-Sean, and his daughter’s names are Tina, LaQuisha, Keyshia and the other one is Toya.
Malik: I have a perfect wife, been married 10 years, we have fun together and I keep her away from all her fears.
Stan: I hear he slaps his wife around and brings her food from the dog pound. They’re probably not even married yet. That’s what I’ve heard. I hear he gives her the beatings he says that she deserves.
Malik: We own a big house, my wife wears a nice blouse, I have a great life, I have no reason to fuss.
Stan: His family lives on welfare! Sir I kid you not, I hear he stole the house with his 9MM glock.
Malik: Yeah, I can say my life is good.
Stan: I wouldn’t believe him, I hear he stays in the hood.
Brother Author # 5 said...
ReplyDeleteBlack People
By
Bro. Author # 5
To you, black people means people with brown skin
For you do not know where we come from or where we’ve been
We are of Sub Saharan African descent
14% of the world is what we represent
A small number that we fought so hard for during the African Diaspora
Strong descendents of the Zulu Nation that is why we continue to tour
Around the globe to spread Tshaka’s blood
But you’re not black it’s ok if I wasn’t understood
Black Education
ReplyDeleteBy
Brother Author # 8
¬¬Black males are people that need to step up
We need to get off the street and get in school
The percentage of blacks in college is 37%
37, that more than a quarter but less than two
What can we do?
Most Black males are selling or doing drugs
Some don’t want to have future or goals; they just want to sit around and do nothing but talk to their girlfriend, play basketball, or play their Xbox 360
Even if they're in school they text on the phone during class not pay attention
What can you do?
We can do more
We can be more
We can go above and beyond
Because you are an educated black man
brother author 4 said...
ReplyDelete#4
The tree
branch
O no I am falling
They were so beutiful
What has happened
My leaves
They were once so bright
They have always looked so full of energy
I wonder how they are
I have not seen them since
Could it be because I have faded
Did the wind take their remains
Like little sprinkles of dust in a hour glass
Man I is it truly my fault
Did I really deserve this
The storm is still here it is indeed me who has fallen
Barrier
ReplyDeleteIs it because I’m half
Is it because I have white in me
Why, is my question
Is white not just a shade of color
Would I have been elected otherwise
Why do I ask you is America like this
Well I answer yes we do need change
Not change of our skin color, no, not indeed
I ask for change not only because our thinking process
But because the way we are raised
Once again you might ask me why
Or maybe even what am I doing
Am I confused, no, not at all
Are we, yes
South
ReplyDeleteBrother Author #9
Jim crow why are you pushing us around
Why you have to put the black man down
But only one man stood up
Said enough is enough
And that we're free today
Because without the one who stood
We wouldn’t know what would we do
Because of the one who stood
We always know we could
A.D
ReplyDeleteBrother Author 6
A.D usually stands for after death, but in this case, A stands for African-American and D stands for deaths. Every time you look at the news, there is something about an African-American being murdered. Like when Martin Luther King was assassinated. There have also been other important people who have been assassinated like Malcolm X. Even non-important people are killed just because other people like the sight of shed blood. Or, maybe they just like the sound of victims screaming mercy, mercy, have mercy! Young brothers getting shot, and young sisters getting touched and stabbed. People getting shot up in their cars from drive-bys just because someone was bored. Young black men being sent to fight in a war when they don’t even know what they are fighting for. Buildings being bombed and schools being shot up just because there was nothing else to do or even it was dare. I only have one question, what is the point?