Poem "STRONG MEN"

by Sterling Brown

They dragged you from the homeland, They chained you in coffles,

They huddled you spoon-fashion in filthy hatches,

They sold you to give a few gentlemen ease.

They broke you in like oxen, They scourged you, They branded you,

They made your women breeders, They swelled your numbers with bastards. They taught you the religion they disgraced.

You sang:

Keep a-inchin’ along

Lak a po’ inch worm…

You sang:

By and Bye

I’m gonna lay down this heaby load…

You sang:

Walk togedder, chillen,

Dontcha git weary…

The strong men keep a-comin’ on

The strong men get stronger.

They point with pride to the roads you built for them,

They ride in comfort over the rails you laid for them.

They put hammers in your hands

And said-Drive so much before sundown.

You sang:

Ain’t no hammah

In dis lan’

Strikes lak mine, bebby,

Stikes lak mine.

They copped you in their kitchens,

They penned you in their factories,

They gave you the jobs that they were too good for,

They tried to guarantee happiness to themselves

By shunting dirt and misery to you….

You sang:

Me an’ muh baby gonna shine, shine

Me an’ muh baby gonna shine.

The strong men keep a-comin’ on

The strong men git stronger. . . .

They bought off some of your leaders

You stumbled, as blind men will. . . .

They coaxed you, unwontedly soft-voiced. . . .

You followed a way.

Then laughed as usual.

They heard the laugh and wondered;

Uncomfortable;

Unadmitting a deeper terror. . . .

The strong men keep a-comin’ on

Gittin’ stronger. . . .

What, from the slums

Where they have hemmed you

What, from the tiny huts

They could not keep from you –

What reaches them

Making them ill at ease, fearful?

Today they shout prohibition at you

“Thou shalt not this.”

“Thou shalt not that.”

“Reserved for whites only”

You laugh.

One thing they cannot prohibit –

The strong men . . . coming on

The strong’ men gittin’ stronger.

Strong men. . . .

Stronger. . . .

Brief Formula Explanation of Why Black Men Kill Each Other At Alarming Rates

"Y'all ain't never just tripped and pictured, and just looked at the whole situation. Cause once u look at it, you know once you really do they don't give a fuck about us!" - 2Pac

Tupac Shakur initiated a movement called "THUG LIFE" that represented an acronym "The Hate U Give Little Infants Fuck Everybody."

From my perspective the 'Hate' 2Pac referred to was 'Given' to too many Black boys who grew up love neglected from 'Infancy' constantly hearing 'Hate' that Black men were nothing "Niggas aint Shit" and they would grow up and be like these worthless adult Black fathers and men.

This constant Black male bashing internally and constant character assassination and negative stereotyping externally of Black men through the racist media is a key inner 'psychological factor' in the social engineering formula driving Black-on-Black male violence: Black boys are socialized with 'Fuck' niggas mentality and self-talk, they are 'Opps' enemies that need to be killed!

America's Racist Political Engineering Facilitating Formula For Black Male Fratricide:

*Racism (Repression, Neglect) + *Psychological (Self-Hatred, Low Self-Worth) + *Economic Deprivation (Poverty, Unemployment) + *Social Degradation (Scarce Resources, Instability) + *Chronic Stress + *Emotional Distress (PTSD) *Frustration + *Misplaced Anger + *Miseducation + *Learned Disrespect and Distrust = Black-on-Black Male Homicides!

*Solution: Black folks through a comprehensive self-determination salvation prevention and intervention plan must counter 'reverse, change' this racist formula to significantly decrease Black males from harming and murdering each other.

Ongoing Crisis of Black Men in America (Quotes)

"Regarding Black men in America, this racist system don't give a fuck about us!" - Rapper

"To be male, poor, and African-American is to confront on a daily basis a deeply held racism that exists in every social institution. No other demographic group has fared as badly, so persistently and for so long.” - Camille Busette

"Black men in America have faced a far more dire situation than is portrayed by current common socioeconomic statistics; far more dire than the brutal racist murder portraits of George Floyd. Since the end of slavery, from the Reconstruction era to the Post Civil-Rights era up to this present day a period of 157 years, massive numbers of Black men have been repressed, attacked, murdered, marginalized, criminalized, jailed, neglected, excluded, sickened, distressed, and died prematurely." - Kenny Anderson

"Provisional life expectancy estimates from February 2021 suggest that Black men had the greatest decline in life expectancy from 2019 to 2020 (3.0 years). This decline is more than half of a year greater than the next closest groups—Hispanic men (−2.4 years) and Black women (−2.3 years). In 2019, Black men already had the shortest life expectancy of any racial/ethnic and sex group (71.3 years). If this difference holds for the full year, Black men’s life expectancy in 2020 will have dropped to be almost as low as it was in 2000 (68.2 years1). And yet, these findings have not warranted explicit programmatic or policy intervention. Black men’s health and mortality remain hidden in plain sight." - Derek M. Griffith, PhD, Christopher S. Holliday, PhD, MPH, Okechuku K. Enyia, MPH

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Black Men Be Strong It's A Beautiful Thing

Black History Month Thoughts on the COVID-19 Pandemic

 by Kenny Anderson

To Black men and Black Folks in general the COVID-19 Pandemic has been tragic for us; many premature deaths have occurred and many more will be occurring; too many Black Lives Mattered love ones lives have been lost. This Pandemic has brought out and amplified emotional distress particularly depression and anxiety in us; yes too many of us have become 'uninspired'.

Since this is Black History Month let us take out some serious time for self-reflection to reflect on our enslaved Ancestors who had to daily endure a white supremacy slave pandemic for 246 years; this viral pandemic we are experiencing now is in no way a comparison whatsoever to what our Ancestors faced, don't get it twisted!

What surprises me is that when I talk to some unrealistic Black folks who assume they should have struggle-free lives; that they should not have to be dealing with a virus pandemic. However things haven't been that way for our people since we were forcibly brought here.

Under white supremacy it aint worked that way for us; suffering and struggle has from past to present been our lives in America until we take the collective responsibility and end our oppression!

Indeed this COVID-19 Pandemic has shook many of us to our core, it has shook many of us to insanely deny the virus even exists or is deadly. Though we've been shook by the Pandemic there are lessons from it too:

*Life is unpredictable

*You can't take Life for Granted

*Don't put your Life on hold 'procrastinating'

*Appreciate the people in your Life

*Slowed us down to take a look at 'examine' our Life

*Exposed that we were overlooking our massive bad health

*Our inner weaknesses have been disclosed 'revealed'

*That self-care must become a main priority in our Life

*We have to find our inner Strength and Courage

*Life requires Patience, Endurance, and Resilience

Through the Spirit of 'Sankofa' during this Black History Month let us engage in 'deep reflective time travel' to fetch our past 'tapping into' the inspiration in our DNA memory that kept our enslaved Ancestors inspired through the very dark days of enslavement: immense separation, suffering, trauma, and deaths; who stayed inspired to "make a way out of no way."

During this month and everyday let us also 'conjure up' Ancestral spirits inspiration by invoking their 'Names' by pouring libations for them to be with us as a lofty inspiring 'uplifting' presence through these difficult days.

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