Join residents and friends at The Piedmont Senior Apartments, 6750 Whitsett Avenue in North Hollywood, CA, for EngAGE’s celebration of Black History Month. Sidni Appleseed Myles, Programs Manager, informed us that there will be poetry and spoken word performances, a classical concerto and other music, and a soul food brunch. She added, “I have a feeling something awesome is going to happen!” Sounds like fun! Get further info at (818) 795-0702. Scroll down to see the poem that Sidni wrote in honor of the occasion.
I Choose To Be Here
Some may have been rounded up, tricked, or captured
But, I chose to be here
Locked up and shackled along ports
In caves by the ocean
Waiting in the darkness with filthy hands touching my body
Yet I chose to survive and to be here
Young people passing through the low door of no return
It was built for children
For a natural free adult
Could never fully conform to the make-believe illusion of slavery
Packed in ships
Like sardines
Underwater
Melon split down the middle
Reveals black seeds and red flesh
I am the 1 in 100 who survived the
3 month
90 day
Voyage across the sea confined in a space no larger than a coffin
Chained by neck and ankle to brothers and sisters next to, above, and below me
It is said, if the Atlantic dried up today, there would be a trail of billions of bones like bread crumbs leading from who I was to who I am
‘Cause I come from those who chose to make it through insurmountable odds…just to be…here
Auctioned, sold, traded, willed, and gifted
Bred, milked, whipped, beaten, and raped
I am a reflection of master and slave in ONE body
Anger and forgiveness is my daily struggle
Sometimes light prevails
Sometimes darkness overcomes
But, balance of my soul’s yin and yang is always the goal
To educate, have compassion for, and love those around me
Even when their guilt, fear, and hate may seem unbearable
I have to remember…I am my ancestors’ reason for living
I am their dream alive, breathing, realized, and awake!
I remind myself…I am an important part of something larger and something larger IS an important part of me
And to honor the sacrifices my ancestors made so that I…could be here
To: Work the land with my grandmother
To: Survive brutal lynchings of the South, flee to Chicago, and live to tell about it
To: Teach my great-grandmother how to read Green Eggs & Ham
To: Encourage my children to pursue their dreams of entrepreneurialism and owning their own businesses
To: Stand for change on the educational front of media production and demand equality
To: Set an example for friends and family of the sheer joy and beauty of being in a meaningful relationship
To: Witness my granddaughter teach karate to white and Hispanic children
To: Raise a son and daughter who graduate suma kum laude from Americas top educational institutions
To: Protect my sons from an unlawful racially motivated police home invasion
To: Share laughter, baked goods, and my cute little granddaughters
To: Work next to and spend time with my eldest daughter Wednesday mornings
I choose to be here
Even with all that’s been said
Even with all that’s been done
Even with all that hasn’t
I choose to be here
And do you know why?
Because I knew the day
I knew to-day
Would come
A day in a world in desperate need of hope, love, and miracles
I am
We are…that
We are ALL these things
And we are here
Because we choose to be!