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.
U.S. presidents routinely violate international law and the United Nations Charter. Yet every year they appear before that body and proclaim American innocence.
"End Racism: Build Peace" was the theme of the 2022 International Day of Peace. That noble sentiment can't be realized when powerful white supremacist structures are committed to practicing hegemony.
The late Jamaican journalist John Maxwell on imperialism, underdevelopment, and the foreign love affair with Haiti’s misery.
While many are celebrating the potential rise of another “Pink Tide” in Latin America and the emergence of a truly multipolar world, it seems clear that the fight for Haitian sovereignty will c
Saladin Muhammad was the founder of Black Workers for Justice. He played a key role in developing Black revolutionary labor organizing.
