The Soultown! Volume IV: Issue 1 JANUARY 2020 | Page 23

The Griot Susanna Endicott wanted John Indien to teach me Some kind of Christian credo— “‘Je crois en Dieu, le père Tout-Puissant, Créateur du Ciel et de la terre…’” Repeat, mon amour, “‘Je crois en Dieu…’”— I refused and told John Indien, Listen, my lover, “Je n’appartiens pas à la civilisation du Livre et de la Haine.” “ I do not belong to the civilization of the Bible and Bigotry.”—”The Bible is an antique Volume.” It is a Still Life—À la Tête Antique— Nature morte à la Tête antique— African masked Spirits led Pablo Picasso to a brothel on Carrer d’Avinyó— Les Demoiselles d”Avignon— Spain’s Barcelona embraced Racial primitivism. Je n’appartiens pas à la civilisation du Livre et de la Haine. I belong to the Ancient Traditions of Ubuntu and Songs. J’appartiens aux traditions anciennes d’Ubuntu et chansons. “Voilà l’histoire de ma vie. Amère. Si amère.” That is the history of my life. Bitter. And bitter. It exists, the Song of Tituba. I hear the song of Tituba across the Island— Elle “existe, la chanson de Tituba! Je l’entends d’un bout à l’autre de l’île.” The other day, I heard a young boy Sing it— “L’autre jour, j’ai entendu un garçon de quatre...ans la fredonner”: “Je n’appartiens pas à la civilisation du Livre et de la Haine.” DR. PIERRE MVUYEKURE The Griot ________ Learn more from The Griot at: thesoultown.com Email Me: [email protected] Note to the Editor: This poem celebrates the work of Maryse Condé, especially I, Tituba, The Black With of Salem, which rehabilitates Tituba as an Africana Root Worker, not a witch. I am Dr. Pierre Mvuyekure, Griot for The Soultown International Magazine. I’d like to thank the African storytellers for having SOUL! , Jan. 2020 • Immortalizing Our Stories to Implore Positive Progress In Our Communities • thesoultown.com 23