Black Boy Poems: An Account of Black Survival in America by Tyson Amir

Author:Tyson Amir [Amir, Tyson]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Freedom Soul Music
Published: 2016-10-15T04:00:00+00:00

These words by Fredrick Douglas in 1852 in many ways sum up the tortured existence of black people in America. We live in a land that claims freedom, liberty, equality, justice, fraternity, and a path for pursuing happiness, for all. Those words ring hollow in the ears of America's despised and dispossessed black sons and daughters. We often hear about the greatness of this country; we are told about the amazing freedoms which are reserved for every man. What we know and in the event that we forget, America is quick to remind us with multiple examples that that "freedom" was not and will never be for us. This means that our fight for freedom continues while the others are well into their second century of victory celebration. I wasn't born to fight. I often describe myself as a lover and not a fighter. I am a lover who has been forced to learn the ways of a fighter. I wish I did not have to fight like I do. I wish with my entire being that my people didn't have to fight the way that we do. I wish that we didn't die so often in America like we do. All of this is because we are not free, and so we fight. For us the battlefield that we call America has been a dark night on an unforgiving mine-riddled terrain passed down to us like an unwanted hand me down. We're scratching and crawling to make it to the day, and we know that the day carries no guarantees that it will be any better. One of the greatest revolutionary/freedom fighter minds of the 20th century, Dr. Huey P. Newton commented on the reality of a revolutionary/freedom fighter.

Dr. Huey P. Newton quoted Bakunin, who said, “The first lesson a revolutionary must learn is that he is a doomed man. Unless he understands this, he does not grasp the essential meaning of his life.” This is part of the reason Newton coined the term "Revolutionary Suicide"; this term reflects a knowledge of taking up a fight against the power structure that will more than likely result in death before victory. In his Manifesto section from his autobiography Revolutionary Suicide, Newton quotes Che Guevara, who said, “to a revolutionary death is the reality and victory the dream.”

Newton went on later to say when explaining his theory of revolutionary suicide, "Yet when I think of individuals in the revolution, I cannot predict their survival. Revolutionaries must accept this fact, especially the Black revolutionaries in America, whose lives are in constant danger from the evils of a colonial society. Considering how we must live, it is not hard to accept the concept of revolutionary suicide.”

Although I fight, the fact remains that I wasn't born to fight; I inherited this battle from my parents who received it from their parents who were simply passing on what was given to them. It's a generational fight, and when my number is called I have to assume my position in the battle.

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