When
By Barbara E. Rumore
Now we repeat the damn silliness again
How many times must this battle for freedom, for rights, for equity, for equality be fought
AND WON
Only to be erased as you also attempt to erase or more politely erode and rewrite my history
Done so to spare the poor long suffering white children from the emotional pain and trauma they are suffering today in classrooms from “a thing” that happened looong ago that they had nothing to do with
What about how I suffered through what little of my history was taught
The textbooks never mentioned the kings, queens, great leaders, movers and shakers and great thinkers that were my African ancestors
I was only exposed to the half naked bush African men and women with their spears in front of small huts made of twigs and mud
I saw only pictures of naked children
I the long suffering black child felt only shame
I the long suffering black child felt only embarrassment
I the long suffering black child felt only the desire to disappear
I the long suffering black child felt only the desire to be anywhere but there
I THE LONG SUFFERING BLACK CHILD FELT NO PRIDE
Martin remarked “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice”
I want to know when
When will that arc finally hit justice
Note: The suggestion that the arc of the moral universe is long but bends toward justice was attributed first to Theodore Parker, a Unitarian minister and prominent American Transcendentalist who in his 1853 sermon “Of Justice and the Conscience” made reference to the moral universe, stating “the arc is a long one.…it bends toward justice.”
Barbara E. Rumore retired from public health nursing administration and moved to Vieques, Puerto Rico, where she lived for 13 years. A native of Oil City, Pennsylvania, she settled in Franklin upon her return to northwestern Pennsylvania. Her avocation for fitness became a career teaching fitness, which shifted to work as a swim instructor. The world around her, poetry, and life experiences are her inspiration. She is a member of Poets Against Racism & Hate USA and The Bridge Literary Arts Center. She has had poems published in The Bridge Literary Arts Journal. Watching her parents volunteer has been her guide for volunteering throughout her life.
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