Day #1: daily excerpt from "RaceBrave: new and selected works" --poetry inspired by the #BaltimoreUprising and #BlackLivesMatter
Karsonya (Kaye) Wise Whitehead, Ph.D.
Founding Executive Dir at The Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice and Professor of Comm & African American Studies at Loyola University Maryland; Radio Host, Today With Dr. Kaye, WEAA 88.9 FM
My new book, "RaceBrave," is a collection of poetry: some of them are brand new (having been from 7.17.14 to 7.17.15); a few were written twenty years ago and I have just found the courage to have them meet me on the page (but part of being RaceBrave means you have the courage to finally speak your truth); and, a few have found their way in various iterations into other publications. RaceBrave includes all of this along with diary entries, excerpts from speeches, and some of my favorite family stories. It has been a long road but I have finally come back to the poet I used to be.
Poem for 04.15.16
"black mommy activism p1"
for ten days without fail
you marched for freddie grey
you marched for justice
you marched and dreamed of a better world
in search of a better tomorrow
away from all of our yesterdays
you marched because you wanted to be free
having spent your life listening for the whispers of freedom
you thought you were on your way to free/dom
and that the road went straight through east baltimore
straight through freddie grey’s block
straight through his home
straight through his life
and so you marched
never having marched before
never having struggled before
never having … before
you marched and marched
you complained while marching
you cried out while marching
and then, you found yourself while marching.
I marched too
but I simply marched for you.