I AM

 

I am the great Egyptian queen Nefertiti

I am the richest continent on Earth

Full of gems and diamonds that were robbed from me

I am the place that people some to learn

I am the place with pyramids littered all around

I am the place there mathematics was born

I am the place where people were first born

I am the culture that once reigned supreme

I am the culture that tried to destroy

 

I am the caged bird that sings

I am the shackled negro leaving my home

I am the prisoner in the cell

I am the with for freedom that will not come

I am the nigger buried underneath

False hope

Lost dreams

Life stripped from me

 

Darkness evading all around

A pin-point of light, so small, so fragile

A life long sentence

Freedom long since forgotten

I am the convict that was falsely admitted

I am the train, so worn, so bleak

My ancestors cried until they died again

 

I am the perfection that is their sin

I am the truth that’s hidden within

I am what the government condemns

A young black girl, beautiful, intelligent

Intellectually challenging, strong at heart

 

I am the lie that’ll set you free

I am the truth that’d trap you underneath

I am the girl so honest, so untrue

I am the girl, the girl that fights

Fights against the injustices shown towards her people

Speak up, speak out, speak loud, speak proud

 

I am the reality that no one wants to face

The truth that’s painful to hear

The beauty that’s fake

The pain that’s forever

The mother’s grief over her dying child

The fake happiness one feels

The imagination the reels

I am the caged bird that sings

The one that didn’t get away

I am the reality that no one wants to face

I am the truth that’s hidden within

I am the wish for freedom that will not come

 

I am reality

I am life

I am human nature

I am the history of my dying race

So innocent

So young

So dark

So light

I am what they don’t want you to see

 

I am a black woman

Strong

Smart 

Beautiful 

Proud

 

I am the ancestry of my people

I am a product of the struggle

I am Martin Luther King

I am Rosa Parks

I am Malcolm X

I am Sojourner Truth

I am Harriet Tubman

I am a child of God

I am me