RESILIENT ROOTS
by Rezilience Williamson
To all my Black Brothers and Sisters,
We are smart.
We are one of many kinds.
And, damn right, We are important.
We are melanated
bodies of sunshine.
Through rain, sleet, and snow
We still find
the strength to grow.
Like the rose that grew
From concrete,
We are manifested miracles
Shining light for the next generation
Lifting their burdens without hands.
This is levitation
This is the first step to free them
‒breaking the chains built to weigh them down.
We mapped out our dreams in the darkness.
We radiated enough
Black brilliance to illuminate the night sky
And guide our children to freedom.
We are midnight constellations.
We are both black and magic.
We conjured up enough
Hymns of hope
To heal all that is broke.
But We ain’t broke.
We are alive.
We waded through His water
And reached the Otherside.
We are powerful.
We were thrown onto this battlefield without supplies,
But still We improvised and We survived.
Because We are resilient
It took us centuries to get here.
But, Ain’t God good?
And Ain’t We great!