Black Zombie II

In Arts & Entertainment, Culture, Poetry by Nicole Crawford

our people got misplaced anger, i know it’s righteous even if misguided

because even if you don’t have the words, you know better than to break bread with sellouts who disregard our hearts while talkin’ bout pan-Afrikan unity

all for the next white man’s opportunity…

how insecure do you have to be to study the struggle and still behave like a tyrant?

in the same breath speakin’ of liberation, you have single-handedly prevented us from achieving

so i ask, who are you, black zombie?

stuck in a loop of validation and black excellence as if your ancestors didn’t already know of their greatness

who are you, black zombie?

moved so easily by cameras and flashy things, thinkin’ designer gon save you from this treachery…

who are you, black zombie?

sayin’ “she too radical” like i haven’t seen the love of Afrikan babies knowing who they are, strong faith in who they meant to be, a truth you still chasin‘ and you almost twenty-three

who are you, black zombie?

i urge you to listen closely while the elders speak of this legacy

and when the dust settles i’ll ask again, who are you, black zombie?

you see i speak in frustration but never without love for my community because i don’t want to see you in a mansion or with them new cars without your mind free…

trynna reveal to you the cost of your dignity, pleading for you to understand that your purity cannot be commodified

and that slowing down to hear me clearly will not prevent your success but enable your autonomy….

need you to understand me because they still killin’ us and feeding you “higher” education upping the doses of fallacy and white supremacy

and we all addicted

to know your way out is the true prize and i would rather stand alone than dance with the devils who taught us to hate ourselves

but the choice is yours, so i ask again, who are you, black zombie?

and even if you have no answer, i hope the next time we speak you’ll be wide awake

as we cannot afford to sleep while the police and fascist empires erode our. minds and haunt us in our dreams

so i ask one more time, who are you, black zombie?