Curtiss L. Hayes

I’ve been black long enough.

Long enough to know about the middle passage
Men, women, children, regardless of age
Stuffed in a ship, like animals in a cage

Long enough to know about slavery
And the white man’s feeling of mastery
Causing human beings a lifetime of misery

Long enough to know about Jim Crow
The unjust laws, instituted, blow after blow
Crushing the spirit of those they refused to know

Long enough to know about lynchings
The ‘strange fruit’ hanging from trees
After enduring a myriad of indignities

I’ve been black long enough.

Long enough to see separate but ‘un’equal classrooms
Schools with computers, others with, maybe, brooms
Leading inevitably to unequal boardrooms

Long enough to see the Civil Rights movement
Its effect on America barely a dent
Many courageous freedom fighters came and went

Long enough to see housing inequality
Driving past neighborhoods with no diversity
Wondering will we ever have inclusivity

Long enough to see the police forget
Those they are sworn to serve and protect
Instead they put a knee on their neck

I’ve been black long enough

Long enough to experience racial discrimination
I have felt it on more than one occasion
One time as a child on a family vacation

I was ten when I jumped into the motel pool
The white folks scattered; (was I made of stool?)
And glared at me as if I was the fool

Or when our family moved into a neighborhood
Only to watch signs pop up on placard and wood
‘For Sale’ signs to get the hell out of the hood

The confederate flag flew at my oldest son’s school
So what are concerned parents to do?
We dialogued a resolution until all parties were cool

I’ve been black long enough.

Hopeful or hopeless? Probably more of the latter
POTUS can’t even say the words ‘Black Lives Matter’
To some I may sound like a man full of blather

I’m not, it’s just that I’ve been black long enough
To know that enough is enough.

Penned June 4, 2020

I had a dream
gathered up steam
and then just kept right on rolling
That black and white
no longer did fight
but unity both were extolling

I had a dream
built self-esteem
as I was bold and courageous
I made black and white
walk toward the light
and nobody thought it outrageous

I had a dream
making me deem
giving my life to the cause, providing
Both black and white
scale the height
And climb over the wall that's dividing

I had a dream
strong as a beam
sturdy and steady as can be
Saw black and white
holding on tight
To the vision that U.S. does mean we

I had a dream
we were a team 
Looking out for one or the other
Black and white
with all their might
helping and loving one another

I had a dream
made it seem
I should put what I dreamt in a letter
For black and white
did what was right
things couldn't be any better

I had a dream
cookies and cream
were on the menu that day
Because black and white
are precious in his sight
and they will be together someday