By: Slim da Reazon
I read the mind and heard the thoughts of a racist the other day.
Through the white noise
And distortion this is what I heard his mind say:
"Those good for nothing niggers are nothing but trouble.
Only good for dunking basketballs and being in football huddles."
I was befuddled.
Bemused and confused and mildly amused at how he had it misconstrued.
Although, you could argue that it was true.
Because at that very time, I was engaged in criminal activity.
Trespassing on his private thoughts,
Eavesdropping on his bigotry.
Now clearly this caveman didn't know his history.
Because if you look at antiquity
You can see these past couple of centuries don't mean sh*t to me.
But now, the malevolent benefactor of malice
Sits callously before me
Saying I can only be a pro athlete or a convict.
You know… a pro or con.
Ha!
I flatly refuse to believe it.
I'm collegiately educated with such a high IQ
I can enlighten you or spite you with a haiku.
God as my witness, my sister's a forensic chemist,
I learned the music business,
and the eldest of us three will be a Ph. D.
We're so much more than a minority
Consumed with THC and apathy.
See, I never doubled dribbled, I just double majored.
I never took the pitchers mound in the final round against a rival
Because the only thing I ever aced was my final.
I never pulled up with the game tied and drained a three.
But I am a source of family pride as the first male to attain a degree.
I never rushed for a first down or even kicked a field goal.
But whenever I wrote a verse down, yes indeed, I healed souls.
Yet you see me as only a pro athlete or stereotyped convict.
Or maybe a little bit of both, kind of like Mike Vick.
But my lineage denotes nobility, for I am royalty.
Like Tenkamenin upon the throne of Ghana before the Almoravids hit in 1076.
Like Mansa Musa of Mali making his hajj to Mecca in 1324,
bestowing millions in gold to impoverished masses.
Like King Sonni Ali of the Songhay, recapturing Timbuktu in 1469,
preserving medicinal papyri at the University of Sankore.
I am master of the Egyptian Mystery School and Teacher to the Greeks.
I am Balance in the West; The Tao in the East.
I am more than an orange jumpsuit or a jumpshot in a sports jersey.
I am the Alpha and the Omega,
The Black Beginning.
The Ebony Eternity.
