we have fallen so far away from Malcolm X's dream, Kwame Nkrumah and W.E.B DuBois dream. That in our differences we find strength. Africans throughout were and still are being oppressed. Today we find ourselves in a situation where we are the oppressor here in america. The diamonds we buy the clothes that we wear. these companies that buy from, being black or white support dictatorships. Everything that this capitalist society has showcased as a must have was paid for in blood by someone who looks just like us, Black, a minority. So I have to ask the question where is there success?

'I would like to leave behind me the conviction that if we maintain a certain amount of caution and organization we deserve victory... You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future. It took the madmen of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity today. I want to be one of those madmen. We must dare to invent the future.'

Thomas Sankara, 1985

Poverty is not natural. It is man made and can be overcome by the actions of human beings." -- Nelson Mandela

A twist to Gil Scott-Heron

this so called revolution will not be televised
this so called revolution will not be televised
this so called revolution..............has passed us by
while we have been pacified
singled out, broken into tokens
to symbolise our communities' demise
while we blame our failures and downfalls on the white man's lies
why.........do we only see things through the white man's eyes?
self hatred amongst us, through us and in us arise
we look at the authentic self in depise
mother is crying out but to no avail
so many atrocities mother has called out to our help
yet we have failed
we have failed
we have failed
In every shanty town in Soweto
have we failed?
every taste of a mud pie in Soleil
have we failed
every amputee in Iraq
have we failed
every death at the end of a bullet or machete
by a Janjaweed and Hutu
DID YOU FAIL?

a vision but not an illusion. (11/05/06) an actually dream

through the midnight raids, she stumbles upon UN aids
tears roll down her eyes, all this news reporter can see is
a victim of a genocide.
all i can hear are her cries..................can you hear them?
clothing herself with just the sunlight as uv rays beats against
her oiled skin, an off spring lay within.
another dead wrapped in her linen
her grief is unknown to me so all that I have to offer
is sympathy, all that I have are a pair of ears
so I asked, can you share your story with me?
through a translator, I learned she was born of a
Nuba lineage residing in Dafur, lived just like me
she had a spouse, she had a family.
she lamented stories of travelling distances
through blistering daytime heat and fridgit nights
thanking Allah's might that she escaped the janjaweed
with at least one seed. telling ME as tears roll down MY
eyes arise
I awoke from this vision but could not deviate from its illusions,
many are dying in Sudan. many have died as we cry daily about
cost of living when all they care about is LIVING!!!!!

If eyes are the portals to the soul, then lips are the corridors to the mind.

For all those who lay victim
To this foul opinion embedded in my doctrine
I say to you, NOTHING!!!
To my fallen brothers in arms
As we all wrest against the devil's charms
I..............Forgive You
I forget all the times that I've warned you
About these creatures that take flight at night,
in those skirts, those jeans that you saw was fitting just right.
these same women who open their legs
and you become engulfed in a parlor of death
for that time of intamacy there was so much joy and so much pleasure
only to know sooner or later your fate was met by just three letters
and truth be told in this world
where our spirit fights against our flesh
the most noble of my soldiers was kissed by this angel of death
and that day only draws ever closer
where just on your death bed where you about meet your maker
I wonder about the things you'd tell him in your last prayer?
talk about missed opportunities when you did not listen
times when you chose not to care?
And understand that time when you were so young and lively
And you could never think of settling down, because "too much woman
out there who want a piece of me"
And the Lords know how you needed bust because as man we get horny
Tell me my friend, my soldier, Brother with out protection
Did you think of H.I.V.

To My fallen brothers, may God rest your soul

Black Solidarity Day’s purpose over the last thirty five years has evolved. No longer are we in the era of hot mid summer riots, non-violent protest rallies against depriving us of the right to vote, and the right acquire equal opportunity as our former plantation owner here in America. Oppression has evolved and it has spread throughout the globe as capitalism grows and our thirst for superficial wealth creates exploitation in lesser developed countries. This reason to believe we have become pacified. These are bold statements since in the last forty years people of color have taken on a remarkable change in society. Most notable the rise in economic stature, however the impact of a post chattel society the quest for an identity has become our downfall. Earlier I mentioned pacification; I use this particular word to describe the state of this black generation. We have been pacified through the bombardment of heavy narcotics from the mid seventies through today. Our continued cause for the struggle has been diluted since the death of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and the destruction of the Black Panther party. We ask our selves what are fighting for; the struggles we face have no longer become a unitary state’s problem, countries such Zimbabwe, Haiti, Sudan face a dilemma that is unprecedented. The struggle is not dead and the fight for social economic advancement has not ended.

Black Solidarity Day’s purpose in the 21^st century is to re-establish that connection with our identity, before we were a chattel led people. Before we became an ex-slave, to recognize where we have gone wrong and implement an action change to make amends. Today is Black Solidarity Day and no longer can we sit as images of New Orleans, Sudan and less recent Rwanda wage an onslaught on our thought process. We cannot call upon the generation prior to act because their time of action has passed and the mantle lay for us the youth to behold. The goal is to light that fire and harness it in as much people as we can so that they can love. Che Guevara once said true revolutionaries and guided by great feelings of love, and our purpose at the end of the day is to light the fire of love so they leave with a sense of purpose.