Poetry from African Women on the Front Lines
Our organization has historically been comprised of many dynamic African women. This is no mystery as African women have historically been on the frontlines of anti-colonial struggles for liberation. Members of InPDUM are also building the cultural front of the African revolution, creating powerful works of art that promote the Revolution. These works of art also function as weapons in our “war of ideas” against white power- the ideas/ agenda/ narrative of the oppressor vs those of the oppressed. In a world where white power and its monopoly over mass media (news, magazines, television, movies etc) creates media content that inspires demoralization, self-hate and a fear of fighting back in African people, the Uhuru Movement is creating artwork that inspires us to love ourselves, love African people and, most importantly, inspires us to fight back against this oppressive system in order to free African people. Read the poetry of some of the talented women of InPDUM.
African
By: Jheanelle Owens
Spanish Town, Jamaica
I don’t care what anyone says
Im African
Look at my skin
Look at my hair
Look at my nose
Listen to my voice
Those inflections aren’t French
Those nostrils aren’t English
This hair isn’t Taino
This skin isn’t white
This skin is black!
This skin formed melanin
Under the same sun
That beat my ancestors’ backs
in the cane fields
My mind was educated
On the same land
Where we were enslaved
So you can’t tell me
That I’m something new
I am an African woman
First and foremost
They haven’t made me into anything else
By kidnapping me
By enslaving me
By impoverishing me
By making me fight for
what is rightfully mine
My lineage
Lies in the motherland
Not on a slave ship
I was African then
I am African now
I’ll be African tomorrow
I will give birth to
African children
We will know freedom in our lifetime
Liberation
By: FoFeet Alkebulan
St. Louis, Mo. u.s.a.
Trapped in a colonial cesspool up to my neck and I can’t breathe
Black lives matter is bull shit to my ears,
it never stopped the black bodies from dying
I’m suspended in sticky drainage, spit in my face at every turn
The closer I climb to getting out, a foot pushes me back in
leaving marks on my chin
They don’t want me to see the truth, I have the square root of their lies
Constantly surrounding me, bounding me
Blinding me at every turn, as my flesh burns to be free
The Uhuru Movement opened my eyes
andI know who I am
An African sick and tired
and tired of being tired
Revolution is the only solution for this madness I’m speaking of
Some people call it depression,
I call it the colonial lesson,
and I’m dropping out of class
My peace of mind has been strategically raped and pillaged along with Africa and I want my reparations
Some say I’m in a depression, I call it colonialism
a system built to keep me down so it can stay up
I’m diagnosed, by the maker of the pill
that caused the problem that makes me sick
it’s one of their tricks
Trapped in a colonial cesspool up to my neck
choking my existence but I’m fighting back until we win
African Liberation in my lifetime
Uhuru
Shine
By: Auset Shakur
New York, Ny. u.s.a.
How can I live free with the weight of death on my chest
With homicide holding me hostage at my hips
My mother, strong, comforts me with crack stains on her lips
10 black brains blaze through her hips
My mother was a slave and I wonder if she knows it
Maybe she does and that’s why she never shows it
I remember my mother’s tears
Like a sharp pain, aching my ears
A pain that’s been running rampant for years
Fastened to the backs of blacks like a patent
Perfected for our entrapment
Devoted to our detachment of self
They brought us here simply to work for their wealth
There’s no concern for our hurt or our health
Like conniving canines, their only concern is their stealth
Stealing black bodies, black blood and black land
Dealing us trick cards and then forcing our hand
Literally reshaping our women and dismantling our man
I don’t know about you but I’ll do all that I can
Because my daughter will not have a fear on this land
My daughter will not shed a tear on this land
And my son, my sun, will forever shine
InPDUM is building a culture of Revolution. We are creating works of music, writing, poetry and all forms of art that promote the Revolution and the liberation of our people. We are calling on all artists to join TODAY at InPDUM.org and help build the culture of Revolution.
If you want to write for African Resistance Now, send an email to info@inpdum.org today!