From the Archives: A Tribute to Black History & Poetry

In the February 23, 1989 issue of the BCLS student newspaper The Alledger, members of the BC chapter of the Black American Law Students Association (BALSA) put together a collection of poetry by Black poets to celebrate Black History Month. (The BC chapter of BALSA continues today as the Black Student Forum (BSF), and BALSA itself continues as a national organization under the name the National Black Law Student Association (NBLSA). Learn more about the BSF or about NBLSA from their websites.)

Below is the introductory text from the students of BALSA:

Ain't gonna let nobody turn me 'round, turn me 'round, turn me 'round, ain't gonna let nobody turn me 'round, I'm gonna keep on a walkin', keep on talkin', marchin' on to freedom land.

Such was the battle cry of the 1960s in Birmingham, Alabama, in Jackson, Mississippi, and in Little Rock, Arkansas. The struggle for equality, the struggle for dignity, the struggle for civil rights moved through the country. The bombs, the hoses, the dogs, the beatings and the marches were the tools and the consequences of the fight for human rights.

As we celebrate Black History Month this year we remember;

Emmit Till, Tommy Lee Carter, James Chaney, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X., Martin Luther King Jr. and others who died that we may enjoy a piece of the American Dream.

February is the month designated to celebrate the contributions of Black Americans to the United States and the World. While thsi celebration on a yearly basis serves as a marker in the minds of Black Americans, it should mark the minds of all Americans. The contributions of Black Americans extend far beyond athletics and music long considered primary areas of Black excellence. On the contrary, Blacks have achieved significantly in the fields of Architecture, Medicine, Science, politics, Literature, and Engineering.

Each day we are reminded of some of the contributions of Black Americans. Some of these reminders are: the stop light, the cotton gin, the engine self-lubricating cup (this cup is responsible for the phrase "the real McCoy" referring to engines bearing this cup), the shoe lasting machine (this machine revolutionized the shoe industry), the steam boiler, and the air brake. Each of these items were invented by Black Americans. And the list goes on.

The Students of BALSA offer the following works by Black Poets as lasting tribute to Black History Month.

February 1989 arrived just on the cusp of a critical point in the history of South Africa. State President Pieter Willem Botha had just stepped down from leadership of the National Party, and would in about six months step down from the Presidency to be succeeded by Frederik Willem de Klerk. It would be another six months before Nelson Mandela was released from prison in February 1990 (where he had been a political prisoner since 1962), and four more years after that until the official end of apartheid in South Africa in April 1994. International calls for racial justice, the release of Nelson Mandela, and the end of apartheid were at their height when this collection was put together, as can be seen in this poem by David Brian Williams, Litany to the Keepers of the Dream:

We have a dream
That today is the day that all men & women will see the light of truth
the light of justice, the light of freedom

We have a dream
Our day has come
It has come on the tide of a new birth
And a new understanding
A new realization that we as a people can no longer afford
to sit back and watch while the majority of Black people are
no better off economically today than they were twenty years ago

We have a dream
That here today is this year
Black people will celebrate the end of a century of living
in darkness, unaware of our beginnings, and provide
the light of education to our Black minds
Education to include the great kings and queens of Africa
And the great Kings and Queens of Mississippi
From Mansa Mussa to Malcolm X,
From Cleopatra to Fannie Lou Hamer to Winnie Mandela,
From Shaka and Hannibal to Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King Jr.
Now is the time to rekindle the flames of pride and dignity
ignited in the sixties, dampened in the seventies and only awaiting
a spark in the eighties in order to burn brightly on through the nineties
A change is coming today here in America

We have a dream
That here is the place and now is the time
To stand up straight, walk tall, speak loud, and act just plain crazy
Crazy about the realization of dreams past
Crazy about being proud
Crazy about being Black
Crazy about being re-educated
Crazy about being economically self-sufficient
Crazy about a new freedom
Freedom from the chains of apathy
Freedom from the bonds of poverty
Freedom from the attempted destruction of the Black family
Freedom from our own complacency
Oh Freedom Oh Freedom Oh Freedom is just around the corner
Because it is up to us to make the dreams of the Martin Luther King's
and Malcolm X's becoming living realities

We have a dream
And America you'd better watch out
Because we are no longer blinded by the rays of pacification
America watch out
Because we have a new sense of pride in ourselves
America watch out
Because we can no longer ask you to ask South Africa to free Nelson Mandela
America watch out
Because we insist that you tell them to free Mandela
America watch out
Because we demand that you work hard to end apartheid in South Africa
And end modified segregation here in America
I feel a change coming on
America watch out
Because we ARE the dream
Coming Alive

David Brian Williams
1/5/86

To read more poems from the collection, or read the rest of this issue (Volume 9, no. 7) or others from The Alledger, head on over to our digital archive: https://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/alledger/