Sin.
Freed
into that darkened sky—
Friday.
How can one be born
when one is old:
washed—
in the flood from His side,
beneath the piercing sword?
Surely
I will abandon my watery grave—
alive:
pale as ancestors, plunged
into its flow—
black as my Jesus, comely:
a bride.
first published in Domicile
Published in response to posts on blogs, “Imus and Us” by Ken Otterbourg and “The”Nappy-Headed Ho” Is We” by The Poetry Man.
UPDATE: See also M. Quinn’s “The Call For a New Paradigm“
SECOND UPDATE: “Minutes ago, CBS Radio fired Don Imus. Now, both CBS Radio and MSNBC have finally gotten the message: women and African Americans have had it with hate speech.” Feminist Majority Foundation
Where are the Christian voices?
14 comments
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April 12, 2007 at 9:55 am
thepoetryman
Very nice my friend.
Love the “black as my Jesus, comely:
a bride.”
April 12, 2007 at 10:08 am
helenl
Thanks, PM. And thanks for leaving the comments on Otterboug’s blog. He’s the managing editor for the Winston-Salem Journal. I don’t know who the guy from Kernersville is.
April 12, 2007 at 10:18 am
Jana Allard
Thank God we can be “born” when we are old. My husband’s grandma was in her 80’s when she was “washed in the flood from His side.” Beautiful poem!
April 12, 2007 at 11:11 am
helenl
Thanks Jana. Did you catch the fact that this poem is about giving up racism through Christ?
April 13, 2007 at 12:21 am
Jana Allard
Yes, Helen, I did get the point. I must admit, I live in a very diverse area and racism is not as prevalent here as it is in other places. Our city slogan is, “The international community working together.” Our church slogan is, “The international church for the international community.” I admit that racism is not something I frequently think about and my husband and I try to avoid naming any race for any reason. That is why I commented on the line about being born when we are old.
Unfortunately, we do realize that racism does exist. We just happen to be lucky enough to not face it as much as others. In fact, my children are the only white children in their classes. The good thing, they don’t even realize it. Recently, there has been a little tension here because the hispanics have started flying the Mexican flag and covering the American flag in some public school classes. This has caused some disturbance, but it seems to have calmed down. Most of this protest is over the illegal alien situation. Many of the illegal aliens are receiving more benefits from the state than American citizens are able to receive. It is a pitiful scene.
I have traveled to many places in the world, lived in Africa, and I just hate for people to be defined by color. Because of that, I refrain from speaking about race or drawing attention to any certain race. However, I do support you in your efforts to speak against racism.
April 13, 2007 at 8:26 am
thepoetryman
Jana,
Very well spoken my friend.
April 13, 2007 at 8:43 am
helenl
Thanks Jana. You have no idea how many people leave when they find out I am passionate about this, how many think they’ll just ignore it and “serve Jesus,” and let God fix the problem. when Jesus comes again, or we’re in heaven. God sent Jesus the first time to pay for our sins. Racism is out national sin in the US.
I grew up in the midwest where there were hardly any people who didn’t look like me. But in the south that’s not true. I even dare to believe that aliens come from Mars and that poor, desperate people risk their lives crossing the Rio Grande to eek out a better live for themselves and their loved ones. Yes, it’s illegal, but so was harboring a runaway slave. What must God think. (Not sure I know.)
And Poetry Man, Thanks for your support. The goal is to be abble to “ignore race,” just celebrate who we are, but sadly we aren’t there yet. So I have to speak out, when I’d rather get to do some of the things others seem to do so easily.
April 13, 2007 at 10:04 am
Jana Allard
Helen – I think I should clarify something. After re-reading my comment, it may have seemed that I won’t speak against racism – not true. I will speak against racism if I am given the opportunity, but I fortunately live in an area where interracial marriage is the “norm” and my neighbors are a variety pack. I think California has progressed a little further than many other states on eliminating racism. We aren’t there yet, but it is greatly improved. Within the block on which I live, there are Filipino, Mexican, Eastern Indian, and around the corner is an African-American family and also a Nigerian doctor. The majority of our community is Filipino and Mexican, but we do have a nice variety. I feel confident that God is grieved when He sees people harboring prejudice
thepoetryman – thanks for your compliment. By the way, I dropped by your blog and I like your heading, “Don’t burn the flag, wash it.” Wouldn’t it be cool if we could put prejudice people in a “washer” and when the cycle is finished, prejudice has been cleaned out? We could even run politicians through it and clean the crud out of them! LOL
April 13, 2007 at 10:28 am
helenl
Thanks Jana.
April 14, 2007 at 6:04 am
Sherry Chandler » Imus
[...] White Into Black [...]
April 14, 2007 at 7:46 am
helenl
Thanks Sherry.
April 14, 2007 at 4:32 pm
whig
Helen, will you take recognition of the effect of cannabis prohibition on the black community?
April 14, 2007 at 4:39 pm
helenl
Hi Whig, I don’t understand what you are asking me. Please re-phrase the question.
April 14, 2007 at 5:45 pm
whig
Yes, cannabis prohibition is principally targeted against the black community, and black men are disproportionately targeted for prosecution and incarceration. Will you recognize this as a fact?