Liberian Literary Magazine
Promoting Liberian Literature, Arts and Culture
Gifts of the Masters
the tan and yellow -tan of it,
the deep-brow n middle-brow n high-brow n
of it,
the “oliv e” and ochre of it—
Blackness
marches on.
In this segment, we run poems from some of the
greatest African American poets that ever lived.
GWENDOLYN BROOKS
Primer For Blacks
The huge, the pungent object of our prime
out-ride
is to Comprehend,
to salute and to Lov e the fact that w e are
Black,
w hich is our “ultimate Reality,”
w hich is the lone ground
from w hich our meaningful metamorphosis,
from w hich our prosperous staccato,
group or indiv idual, can rise.
Primer For Blacks
Blackness
is a title,
is a preoccupation,
is a commitment Blacks
are to comprehend—
and in w hich you are
to perceiv e your Glory.
Self-shriv eled Blacks.
Begin w ith gaunt and marv elous concession:
YOU are our costume and our fundamental
bone.
The conscious shout
of all that is w hite is
“I t’s Great to be w hite.”
The conscious shout
of the slack in Black is
'I t's Great to be w hite.'
Thus all that is w hite
has w hite strength and yours.
All of you—
you COLORED ones,
you NEGRO ones,
those of you w ho proudly cry
“I ’m half I NDian”—
those of you w ho proudly screech
“I ’VE got the blood of George WASHington
in MY v eins”
ALL of you—
you proper Blacks,
you half-Blacks,
you w ish-I -w eren’t Blacks,
Niggeroes and Niggerenes.
The w ord Black
has geographic pow er,
pulls ev erybody in:
Blacks here—
Blacks there—
Blacks w herev er they may be.
And remember, you Blacks, w hat they told
you—
remember your Education:
“one Drop—one Drop
maketh a brand new Black.”
Oh mighty Drop.
______And because they hav e giv en us
kindly
so many more of our people
The Change
Tony Hoagland, 1953
Blackness
stretches ov er the land.
Blackness—
the Black of it,
the rust-red of it,
the milk and cream of it,
The season turned like the page of a glossy
fashion magazine.
I n the park the daffodils came up
and in the parking lot, the new car models
w ere on parade.
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