There is a special burden that goes with being "the first", or "the only", or "one of the few" black faces in a workplace, school or professional situation. Jackie Robinson was neither the first nor the last to bear this load. The Seven Foot Poet speaks to those who bear this load.
I HATE BEING JACKIE ROBINSON
(Dedicated to the brothers and sisters competing in America’s rat race.)
Click the flash player below to hear the Seven Foot Poet perform this original work.
{mp3}poetry/090_7ft_jackie-robinson{/mp3}
I Hate Being Jackie Robinson
Being the only one
Being the first one.
You look at me with envy.
I look in the mirror and shun.
Monday thru Friday
Though no one yells slurs
Or
Explicitly threatens to terminate my existence on this earth
It hurts being Jackie Robinson.
Make no mistake
Even if my teammates are great
Championship caliber
They still can’t really relate
To my fate.
I hate being Jackie Robinson.
Material goods badly compensate
For torment endured
By me the lonely baobab tree
In a forest of timber wood and evergreens.
Being Jackie Robinson is no fun.
And I ain’t even half of him.
So don’t congratulate me on how well I’ve done
Because over the cheers of the fans – I hear my soul booing.
I hate being Jackie Robinson.
By Kemit Mawakana (aka The Seven-Foot Poet)
Peace (when appropriate) War (when necessary)
Copyright 2008.
Kemet Mawakana (aka “The Seven-Foot Poet”) is a highly acclaimed spoken-word artist, and has published two books A . . . Z . . . Infinity and Crucifixion of My Soul. The collective body of his works presented weekly in BAR are in tribute to Listervelt Middleton, Dr. John Henrik Clarke, and “For The People”. Currently, he is a facilitator at AYA Educational Institute (www.ayaed.com) and can be reached at sevenfootpoet@gmail.com.
A United Nations panel of experts is in the US investigating the condition of political prisoners held in this country.
The late Harry Belafonte was a great artist and also a committed revolutionary.
The Black Alliance for Peace Haiti/Americas Team issued this statement in protest of the latest effort of the Core Group to undermine Haitian sovereignty.
Note that all western coverage of Haiti over the past ten months has centered on “gang violence” and not the protests by the people against an illegitimate Prime Minister, unending U.S. imperial…
Mayotte is a French overseas territory located in the Indian Ocean between Mozambique and Madagascar. It is also near the Comoros Islands, whose citizens travel to Mayotte as undocumented…
