BLACK WEALTH BY DR. AKANIMO ODON

Listen to the uproar that pervades like fumes through the midst

See the chaos that abounds when there should be a joyful feast

Elevated voices of men and women in protest and arguments

Finger pointing and blame apportioning a famed instrument

They call each other by nick names in their built-up wrath

They demand and decry, in all evidence to re-gain their worth

Their worth, matchless, cannot be bought by any human price

Their pride, dauntless, cannot be quenched though their small size

Their colour, stand out, an epitome of beauty in all its essence

Their glory, ooze out, an archetype of magnanimous confidence

Their passion, intense, to cause an impact in this generation

Their history, immense, they’ve conquered through determination

Why should this lot lose their identity in their own land?

Why should they be tossed on and about when they can take a stand?

Why should they allow their environment subdue their potential?

Why should their melanin limit the splendour of their credential?

Why should they lose sight of the benefits of working together?

Why should they take hold of a little when it could be better?

Look back and relish the greatness of a golden ancestral stock

Ponder in appreciation at the foundation where morals is a bedrock

In the days where their fathers as slaves were shattered and segregated

In the land where their mothers within caves were gravely isolated

In the times where colour was a crucial element in giving judgement

In the era where race was considered in assessment and agreement

Yet still from the paws of the prowling tiger emerges a resistant specie

From the midst of unfertile grounds sprout up a robust family tree

Breaking forth into life through the hard earth crust like a seedling

Springing out with colourful buds of hope though regarded a weakling

These has become a force to reckon with, a people true to embrace

Though a minority in essence, unbeatable the uniqueness of black wealth

Gathered together by exodus or birth into a family within foreign gates

But still can mark out their origin back to many diverse African states

Exposed to a mixed array of culture sometimes drowning them like the sea

Subjected to strenuous pressures of fitting in, looking like and wanting to be

Losing sight of individuality, personality and subsequent functionality

Gradually fading out of recognition into an awkward realm of inequality

How long shall our number stand as a barrier in the way of our progress?

How long shall the society in strife and naivety negate our success?

How long shall our true identity be swathed and relegated to the background?

How long shall we struggle to breathe in a life of perpetually being bound?

Bound from voicing out concerns that affect our livelihood and pride

Bound from spreading out our tentacles and taking steps in a confident stride

Arise!! Oh sleeping generation of Black nationals, for it is time to shine

Take advantage of your momentous times, your future yours to design

Cast abroad the seeds of fortitude, of hard work, your determination renew

Watered by the streams of perseverance, dignity always, ever true and true

For in the break on dawn, with the ray of the sun, fruiting blossoms will begin

And then shall your hopes be made alive, the beauty of your colour be seen

Look ahead and visualise a time when you like eagles would fly shoulders high

Take a quick perceptive view for then your goals and limits will be the sky

In that day where brotherhood shall mean much more than a million quid

In the day where love and togetherness to all and sundry shall be a creed

For you shall stand for what you believe in and not be drawn down the drain

And then shall power be unleashed on the youth who will as leaders reign

May this time allocated for the celebration of black wealth clearly strike a cord

May it commemorate great black achievers and innovators with grand applaud

A time to venerate potentials as the ‘black lives matter’ campaign grows along

To take advantage of the moment and through true leadership become strong