by Reverend Reynard N. Blake, Jr.
See harmful loan schemes and tricks black folks go through
Criminal justice makes prison work fruitful
Sentence black guys with the long stints they’ll bring
Greenbacks accrue from high speculating
Song Parody: Teaching White People What Racism Means
by Reverend Reynard N. Blake, Jr.
[parody based on the song, “My Favorite Things” from the movie “The Sound of Music”]
“Reverse” and “racism” is hard to fathom
White people claiming that that’s what could happen
How could this happen when white folk run things?
There are some issues worth considering
White people complain when black people get blue
Gunshots for black men when stopped by the state troops
Breathing for black men seems hard when disdained
Teaching white people why racism stings
Did Africans lynch whites and started laughing?
Was rape o.k. for white boys on slave lasses?
Serving white masters and black women chained
These were examples of white privileging
When the dogs fight
And whites see it
And the owners’ black
They’re quickly forgetting lives snuffed through lynching
But then whites don’t give a damn
[Repeating the cadence of first 4 stanzas]
White folk thought chapters of racism smitten
Whites conquered their sins and blacks knew they didn’t
Watch lender packages tied up with strings
Then some blacks lose all their financial means
See harmful loan schemes and tricks black folks go through
Criminal justice makes prison work fruitful
Sentence black guys with the long stints they’ll bring
Greenbacks accrue from high speculating
Lacking investment in schools or in transit
Low-pay has black folks’ lives shortened with hardships
Watching whites whisking black neighborhoods plain
Gentrification finds black folk leaving
When the young die
When the Right wing
Think crime’s mostly black
I’m thinking Ferguson whites feel the same things
And, then I get steaming mad
Reverend Reynard N. Blake, Jr., M. S. is an ordained Baptist minister living in East Lansing, Michigan with his wife Karen Kelly-Blake, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences at Michigan State University (MSU). He earned his Master of Science degree in Community Development-Urban Studies from MSU and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the College of Charleston (SC). He has authored and co-authored several articles on faith-based community development and is also a poet, essayist, and social critic. His work has appeared on Black Commentator, Michigan Family Review, Op-ED.com, the Online Journal of Urban Youth Culture and Black Agenda Report. He is putting on the final touches on a book of political parody and poetry; no publisher yet. He would appreciate any input on where and how he can get it published. He can be reached at reynardblakejr@yahoo.com.
In this week’s segment, we listen to a press conference in support of the sovereign rights of Venezuela and of the rights of those who support the Venezuelan people to travel to that country. But…
Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor of Pan-African Newswire, joins us from Detroit to discuss the recent coup attempt in the West African nation of Benin. The coup ended with assistance from neighboring Nigeria…
The Peoples Assembly for Peace and Sovereignty of Our Americas convened in Venezuela, but many delegates were unable to attend due to the Trump administration declaring a no-fly zone. The Workers…
Donald Trump’s anti-Somali rants are not directed solely at members of that group. All Black/African people are seen as suspects, as ungrateful criminals who are deserving of punishment and scorn.…
The genocide in Gaza has torn off the West’s human rights mask. This naked colonial violence demands a new path where rights are won through people's struggle, not granted by the very states that…
