Can Words Birth Voices

Who We Were Before we left our Women to do our jobs, Men were Gods… It’s odd We were removed from the womb, too confused to choose sides between Brides and pride We grew too blind to see that the Tribes had died The ivory in our eyes didn’t realize their lies, they tend to hide behind disguises Back when we were Afrikans they called us savages Now we’re just Black Bastards abandoned, America don’t want us We fought with spear and stone to protect our homes, erect our thrones Dressed in pearl, bone and precious stone Back when we were Kings and Queens, before we started calling them bitches We knew the difference between wealth and riches, never disrespected our Sisters Back when men sold souls for the lives of their wives Before they stole gold and sold Makeda and Isis Before words were heard from Don Imus Before we were herds, we were tribes of Black Lions We knew of god before we knew of hatred, we were sacred Before we met Massa’, we knew Master and Pastor didn’t have to patch us into the Matrix Back when Bushmen couldn’t speak to Fulani due to a difference in language We made statements with patience, paintings and sign language Before misread lips led to violence, we read walls of pyramids Our silence spoke for us in chorus We grew cocoa for butter before we used cane Were once fruit of the Creator’s Labor before we were strange Before we were chained and tamed, before we were renamed We didn’t know guns til we were hung…. Didn’t squeeze triggers until we were deemed niggers Before we fought wars on foreign shores, we were sure of what we fought for It was pure Never made blood pour for oil but the spoils of freedom and royalty, loyalty We were civil before they found our diamonds and emeralds Before Martin and Malcolm there was Imohtep and Akhenaton Warriors were Zulu before we knew Spartans Immortalized before forgotten Before this diaspora to Gomorrah, before explorers washed up on our shores Before their thirst for stardom led us to Sodom, before we hit rock bottom Before men were martyred or had forgotten to be fathers Back when we watched our daughters blossom Before we had to be forced by the courts to pay child support or fought through divorce Back when men were the head and ensured his kids were fed, read stories before bed And prayers were said… Before we were slaves or introduced to A.I.D.S, before Blue Magic gave us waves Back when we were Protectors, we would protect her Before we were fools or fooled and poorly schooled we ruled… Before Jesus had a skin color he had a mother Before Mohammed brought the Qur’an he gave the salaam’s, there was peace We were peaceful people, before the evils Before we realized Americanized meant unequal, we were regal Before the Biblical upheaval in the steeples Before they lied and began to divide my people Before woman was forced to take our place at the throne she made our house a home Before God made Eve, the first he….was alone Before she had to be twice as strong, she was just a missing lung….she belonged Before we became animals and asses and started learning backwards Before we fell victim to political malpractice And our children were forced to live in a Father’s absence Back when men mended homes and broken bones Before Tut, Ramses and Taharka Kings were fathers Before Narmer, Menelek and Idris Alooma, there bloomed a true Ruler… Created Man in his image, before Man’s rule had ended, we had infinite existence Before the villiage was raped and pillaged we knew of out lineage Back when we were natural, connected to Earth, back before birth, back into dirt Back when we knew our worth it didn’t hurt to be Afrikan before we were black Before we were black….the color of our skin was just that The color…..of our skin.