RITES OF PASSAGE
by shaela montague–phillips
As the djembes beat heavily My wavy hair, brown skin holds the key to my future Of my beautiful history And I just can't runaway away Because as time goes on, my heritage is entwined within me My grandmother's father's mother dreamed of a better life Now through me I can plant her vision, her strong tree My mother's grandmother's sister climbed the mountaintop and declared her way, to show me a story of the Nubian way As the djembes beat heavily I can see it – I embrace it – I walk into it –

WORD LIFE
by karimah simpson
I inhale words and exhale promises to paper
Breathe through the lungs of poems while ancestral bones keep my spirit upright Umbilical like – Words connect me to life.

These truths spill from Culturally swollen wombs Add dimension to triangular tombs.. Beyond this existence The Universe rests on a sentence.

I placed past lives On narrow blue lines 8 1/2 by 11 Inconsistencies of former trees
This modern day tablet Is corporately sponsored By Mead.

With an ink–impregnated staff I walk less traveled paths
Pausing briefly at paragraphs.

Cosmic utterances are recorded in star dust Just as these oxygenated words rust To the color of red–clay mud Sun hardened to form a period.

There I rest.. Creatively blessed

My hindsight Ingests the future seeds of 4 sight
Nourished by 1 divine light I live to write.

HIPHOP
by PROPERganda
Hip–Hop has been colonized By those who despised it just a decade ago. Platinum MCs changed their flow And lightened up the slang so white youth would know The code of the street lingo For profit they're relatin their material To stereotypes that are perpetual It's spreadin like an Asian flu To all forms of black expression The lessons of the past are bein ignored And true heads are bored With this substance free flamboyant bullshit Being spit on rap disc

I can spot them a mile away with a rifle–scope Corrupt like the pope White folks lustin black art Claimin they been down from the start Pop–lockin, head–spinnin, devilish grinnin Ho niggas scramblin for the money they spendin

Yall rich niggas have to admit When yall get money yall get scared and shit Can't imagine livin without it So you are no longer a threat No matter how much rage you inject Into the studio set

It's just entertainment, ask DMX He ain't totin a tech He probably goes with bodyguards to deposit his checks While black youth die, or end up doin time Over shit Jay–Z brags about in his rhymes White kids study for SATs While listenin to Black MCs For them its entertainment, us reality Who you representin when you rappin for whitey Ya see, Hip–hop ain't universal, racism is So why is most rap consumed by white kids When we have a commodity Why do we share it for free Why don't Chinese share their factories Why don't Japan share their auto industries Who won't Amerika accept you and me It's simple; they want to protect what's theirs And have a legacy to pass on to their heirs We on the other hand Are willin to let any man Profit from our shit Until they claim it as their own I will never condone Infiltration of Black culture By these vultures You ain't my man If you a descendant of the klan

It's sick how Black rappers and athletes Work so hard to compete For the attention of pre–teen slackers Providing income for these krackers MCs pack stadiums To collect lump sums While most of us still live in the slums So, call me a playa–hata or busta Cause you a whitey lover, and a money lusta You done sold you soul For fame, a ride, and South Afrikan gold

CONSCIOUSNESS
by areeb malik shabazz
I think therefore I am Totally aware of what's going on within my cipher, Living life to its fullest Knowledgeable of what I'm living and willing to die for. Keeping adrift to the current of life Understanding of its natural and devil–made process, Allows me to make the most out of a life encompassed by death Fully equipped to offer my best. But for most that I know This feeling isn't at all the same, No purpose, no direction Their potentially powerful minds deliberately grown lame. To the game of life Something we who are blessed with breath must play, But without some degree of consciousness From victory you're sure to stray. So stay alert, stay live Don't waste your mighty potential, But seek awareness, seek to be enlightened For a conscious Black mind is essential. So one day we may break the bonds That oppress and enslave me and my people, Read, analyze, and think Because if we don't we'll never be equal. Nor rise supreme to degree of a god Light powerfully bursting from "Negro mentality" Thus allowing Black people to be free.

Freedom through consciousness — THINK ABOUT IT

Oh My
by shabaka
Oh my, I am tired of hearing the word FREE. This mentality is detrimental to the children of Africa. African people were FREE once before, and Europeans got rich. "To Africa my Christian brothers for all that FREE labor" wailed one merchant. So we are here in the land of the FREE, but we will not stop trying to be FREE. In fact, we love this idea, and get hyped when things are FREE. THAT INCLUDES OUR ACTIONS. Mama was first in line for some FREE cheese, butter, or fowl. Shit, Mama said it was FREE so "feel FREE to eat all you want". While driving around looking for FREE parking, I noticed signs advertising Buy One Get One FREE. We are FREE to speak our thoughts. FREE to travel from state to state. FREE to take my own life and ten of my co–workers. FREE to take that child and let my sexual thoughts run FREE. Men are FREE to wear bun wraps even if they favor women. FREE to lust after anyone and anything I desire. If I choose to sex–up a man or woman I am FREE to do so. WELL, I do not strive to be FREE because boundaries keep you on the safer side of the road. The land of the FREE is way off in left field. Western society's notion of being FREE tries to convince me that two women or two men in love is okay. Fuck being FREE in the west. Give me the traditions found in Africa applied in America. This will keep our communities going. I will not base my life around a reaction to the western world's oppression. Saturate yourselves in the traditions of Africa and feel free to embrace the natural.

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