I am...

I am a black man. Not just any black man. I am an African man. This is the trajectory of my existence. I was once chosen; I am a descendant of the chosen. I am the original. I come from chiefs and kings. My skin is the essence of god. I am from a sacred land. My body and soul are universal. I am that essence you hate. I was once a king. I am a black man. Not just any black man. I am an African man… Borne in America. I am a free man. Now you wish to make me your slave. You have written me in your books as a salve. You came to my kingdom and dethroned me. I sat on my throne but you lead my people through me. But they resisted. We resisted. You stole my people. You trade my people. You enslaved my people. You lynched my people for just existing. I am my people you tried to break. You tried to make peasant out of my image. You dissected my land. You invaded my people. You violated my mothers and sisters. You brainwashed my chiefs. You rewrote my existence. I remain a black man. Not just any black man. I am an African man. Of the Caribbean. I am the essence you keep burying. I do not rise for you to reshape my existence. I remain the original. I have survived your torment. And I thrive in my blackness. I live a free man. I walk a free man. You still try to cage me. You have systematically built prisons around me. But I remain a black man. You made my continent your exploitation ground. And I still remain a black man. You play with my intelligence. You bring me a bible and preach forgiveness and obedience. You take and take. You take and I give. You take and kill. You turned me against myself. Just like you turned my ancestors against their gods. I am the reflection you hate. The shadow you fear. You are the reincarnation of the devil itself. Wherever there has been chaos, your kind has been found. I am a black man. A black man. Yo soy negro de la isla. Negro de la diaspora. I am the future. The original. I am still chosen.

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Written by

Friendwithherpen

24 / F / Northampton MA

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