Revolutionary Poetry for Edward Crawford
By Lamont Lilly
Poetry has long sustained Black people. And, its role in the revolutionary work of freedom fighters cnnot be denied.
These poems are meant to be angry. They are also reminders to keep pushing, keep fighting and keep supporting each other, as we all seek the liberation and justice we so deserve. The last piece, “Sister Amina” is an ode to the Black women who brought us over — the aunties, the grandmothers, the nannies, the domestic workers. We certainly can never forget them!
This submission is dedicated to Edward Crawford — the soldier, thewarrior, the fallen.
message from the grassroots
in spite of your tanks
teargas and detention centers.
your prisons, tasers and paid informants.
there will still be honor, love and understanding.
there will still be giving, justice and solidarity.
there will still be life
in the ghetto
worth living.
black babies will still be born
taught to hate you.
black poets will still launch words
meant to kill.
rank and file
bring your homemade signs
on cardboard
and wooden sticks.
bring your mic and megaphone
to loan voice.
bring your rocks
and molotov cocktails
in case they bring it.
bring your fire
for the teargas
that’s sure to come.
tell the scouts
to stay awake out there
we’re depending on them.
bring the women
so we can stand together
and fire back.
black seeds
from the master’s huts
slave quarters
and humble slums
grew strong men.
from the open fields
war kitchens
and vast auction blocks
grew diamond rocks.
from their battered hopes
and buried dreams
grew wildflowers
that refused to bow
bend
or be broken.
American Gothic by Gordon Parks
sister amina
(inspired by Gordon Parks and “American Gothic”)
she was amazing
stunning, actually.
beautiful like the kind
you don’t see very often.
even with that iron
dish towel
and heavy vacuum cleaner.
even with that
broom and dust pan
in her left hand.
black. proud.
working.
serving.
cleaning for ms. jane
cuz she was too dang lazy.
but still
she was amazing
stunning, actually.
beautiful like the kind
you don’t see very often.
so beautiful
even the dirt, grease
and ms. jane
couldn’t hide her.
Copyright © 2017 by Lamont Lilly. All rights reserved.
Lamont Lilly was the 2016 Workers World Party Vice-Presidential Candidate. In 2015 he was an Indy Week “Citizen Award” winner for his activism and journalism. The presented selections are from his forthcoming debut Honor in the Ghetto. Plain but poignant, his poetry directly derives from the marginalized, from the streets of mass struggle, from the Black experience and U.S. South.