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Here we are again,
Standing on the banks
Of troubled waters
Contemplating the crossing;
Should we wade, raft or bridge over?
Sojourning the Underground Railroad,
We waded and rafted many rivers
Of troubled waters and none were too wide
Nor did any have depths too deep.
No, escaping slavery and the lynching for trying
Ignited a do or die choice without thinking.
Though the Underground Railroad is no more,
Slave-like conditions and invisibilized lynching remain;
And they remain in the form of justifiable killings—
Murders—of hued-skinned beings deemed suspicious:
Namely, the Emmetts…Travons…Ahmauds…countless others!
Today, with its pandemonium of trouble waters affecting our lives,
We now find ourselves with the sword of defense in one hand
And the trowel of building in the other, steadfast hued-labourers
Engaged in the necessary building of the bridge over these pandemic
Troubled waters we must now crossover on our liberated sojourn.
History and Ourstory will attest that we been well adept at this task.
And the present river of troubled waters we will conquer too;
For with the solid materials of faith, we shall build a bridge of hope
Providing the passage over the present raging river of troubled waters
And its Pandora box of trials and tribulations of its rising tides.
The God of the oppressed builds with us—bridging our troubled waters.
