The Last Laugh

In my mind

I am defined by my capabilities

not your perceptions and assumptions,

and those I invite to dwell in my circumference

and share in my blessings

have learned the same lessons.

We studied from the same texts;

read from the same handbooks

to avoid the pitfalls

and elude the ambush-es

so many fall victim to…

Implemented resistance to

their propaganda machine and its messages.

Counteracted their brainwashing efforts with

Truth-to-Power tactics –

debunking the manufactured

disinformation their media puppets

disseminate to the public

and expect it to be accepted

as fact-u-al

when in act-u-al-ity

it’s bogus!

Packed with distractions

promoting inaction, acceptance, and fear –

just like that God damn Serenity Prayer

posted in a frame on the wall for years

in my parents’ living room.

Perhaps you know it?

But left to our own,

we discovered Last Poets

while rummaging through their LPs and 45 stacks.

Thank goodness for the advent of Hip-Hop and Rap

that spawned “sample research”

and drove some to sift

through record collections

for new-to-us riffs –

resurrecting the passions of Gil Scott-Heron.

They were inspired.

Those voices of resistance ignited a fire in later generations

who became Public Enemies

that formed X-Clans

to become Righteous Teachers

and support Spike Lee features.

Seeking to regain the right to control our public images,

and be valued for more than our court play and scrimmages.

To project so much more than the gangsta and whore

narratives university studies explore

time

and time

and time

and time again:

What’s Wrong with African-American Men?

I contend – not a thing.

We perform as intended.

Succumbed to the protocols recommended

by the Learned Elders (of Zion) they label a hoax.

Yet we feel the effects of this ruse the most

in this so-called post-racial America.

We strive to fulfill Maya Angelou’s vision

and rise yet again

just as generations of strong Black women and men have done.

From field to the ‘hood,

from blue collar to white,

from projects to mansions

some have risen despite

every effort to keep us imprisoned

through deceptive religions,

unfunded schools

and a political system of two party rule

that behaves as the New Order of the Ages

prophesied in the pages of 1984.

Was Orwell a seer or something more?

A eugenics engineer, perhaps?

I don’t know but what’s clear

is the fears of Rodney King have yet to disappear,

‘cause many of us still can’t just get along.

So shut up with that bullsh!t Kumbaya song.

You don’t love me!

You suspect me of thuggery like it’s simply part of my genetics,

as if my propensity for violence is so deeply imbedded

in my make up I can never wake up from it.

But I assure you,

I am not sleeping.

I’m watching.

Studying.

Intently peeping out game.

Learning the ways of the devil so I don’t make the same

wicked moves when my people return to power again

to destroy false distinctions between races of men.

The Greatest Lie born of the Enlightenment error.

Conveniently told to support a reign of terror

that keeps the few in control over the many.

That transformed the frozen north into the lands of plenty

on the backs of southern labor,

through the blood of southerner’s toil,

for the theft of valuable resources

from conquered southerner’s soil.

But Aquarius is dawning

as Pisces fades to black.

Spiritually and physically,

they feel they are under attack

from Gaia’s great payback.

As the saying goes, “It’s a mother.”

Yet few exhibit any contrition for not embracing me like a brother.

But there is irony in justice.

So as all this comes to pass,

me and mine will laugh best

for me and mine will laugh last.

-HymnAgen

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