Traveling along the highway of life,
The tall trees of its palisades remind me
How low and ugly parts of life have become.
Though not physically shackled and enslaved,
Socially, economically, and politically, mirror
Equal pain and misery of our cohabitation
In a land that once promised equanimity.
“New Jim Crow” has become so disguised
That segregation is literally not an issue
And bigoted racism—an open reality.
The monitoring, chasing, stopping,
Murdering of “free blacks” surpasses slavery
Days when black extinction was deemed legal.
Lynching of today’s blacks has been replaced by
Leg kneeing, tasering, beating, or hot lead stringing:-
It’s evident we need to exit the present-day highway
And with eyes on the prize, head up to the new highway
That will take us to the mountaintop of promised liberation,
Honoring the ancestors as we map the awareness way,
Leaving heirs less miles to travel up to total liberation;
Thus, let us get to palisading the fueling inspirations.