(You can listen to this poem in recorded form at http://www.terrymerriman.com/Jacinta/An%20Endangered%20Species%20-%202.mp3)
My son,
My young black gentleman
Is on the list of endangered species
If not in reality
In the minds of a society
That claims to believe in the ideal
Of the right of every citizen
And the pursuit of happiness
He’s a young man like any other
Growing in a unique environment
That fashions and challenges
Each individual differently
But yet because of his skin color
And continued societal misinformation
He is considered one of a kind, one of a group
Hooligans all!
One of the group of hooligans
A kind of person
Who has no genuine goals or dreams
Who has no feelings or concerns
A threat to this great society of ours
Those hooligans against us all!
Other young people
Are allowed to tell their stories
Which have shaped their lives and dreams
But where is the voice of my young black gentleman
Why is it muted, hidden in the media propaganda!
In his battle for survival
He has lived through many attempts to break his spirit
Often misunderstood
By those whom he expect to understand
For his prospects are so often restricted
By those ignorant of who he is
Those who have chosen to let propaganda and fear
Dictate their actions and reactions
Those for whom empathy and understanding
Are only ideas
Restricted to a select few
This is not a new trend
For, a hundred years or so ago
Men did not hesitate to capture and enslave his ancestors
Using their sweat and tears to build wealth
Wearing his ancestors pain like regal ornaments and cherished robes Today, he is often at risk of being captured and incarcerated
Detained, so they claim
For the safety of us all!
His dreams and hopes to be destroyed
His existence to become barely a statistic
But hope continues to flourish
In this jungle of hopelessness
In spite of it all
Little lights are kept burning
As the enlightened work tirelessly
To help others understand
That my young black gentleman has dreams
Like all young men the world over
His dreams may never be heard
But they nonetheless exist
The dream of a voice not negated by the color of his skin
The dream of a strength that is not a threat because of the color of his skin
The dream that a mistake does not become a crime
Because of the color of his skin
The dream of opportunity not associated with the color of his skin
Dreams, Dreams, Dreams
Colorless dreams!
No different from those of every other young man
Who has lived through the ages
Dreams of growing from childhood to manhood
Dreams of being helped to answer the questions,
Who am I?
What is it like to be a man?
What kind of man should I become?
Who are my role models, my examples?
Questions that cry for answers
From the village where he lives
The village where he should be nourished
The village where he should find himself
For, ‘It takes a village to raise a child’
So villagers,
Let us step up and raise up
Our young black gentleman
Let us help him voice his dreams
Let us help him live his dreams
Let us help him reach for greater heights
To build a better future
For himself, for his village, for his nation
For the world!
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