The Fall of A Black
Man
By Brandon Lunsford
Copyright, © 2003
I have seen the first
trees to ever release oxygen on this earth.
I have eaten of their
fruit since the days of my youth, since birth.
I was given dominion
over all the results of the Creator’s work.
I saw the very first
woman, named her and claimed her.
I was there since the
beginning of time.
I have built the
pyramids and the great palaces.
I have conquered
ancient kingdoms and lands.
I struck fear into
the heart of the Roman Empire.
I organized civilization
in these deserts of sand.
I tamed the Nile,
Tigris, and Euphrates rivers.
I am an ancient
achiever.
I was the first
warrior, and the first emperor.
I was the first
storyteller, and the first interpreter.
I was the first
scientist, the first mathematician.
I was the first
psychologist, and the first physician.
I was the first
philosopher, artist and musician.
I am the originator. I always have and always will be.
I won’t stay
down for too long. I must be free.
I was destined
to be strong. I am royalty.
I am a black man.
The first and the last
man.
I am the black man.
Power flows from the
strength of my hands.
That
was my history, at a time when I walked with God and communed with Him.
At
a time when I was pure and not used to sin.
But now I have lost my entity.
I have allowed
people to strip me of my identity.
I have allowed
them to make me forget that I am royalty.
I turned away from
God when I used to follow loyally.
I have lost my
sense of courage and bravery.
I have been brought
down to the lowest degree by the chains of slavery.
I have been trained
to depend on someone else to survive.
I have been trained
to run away from problems, taught not to fight.
I have been trained
to abandon my parental duties as a father.
I’ve been
trained to disrespect and degrade our women.
I have been trained
to stab my own people in the back
in order to get
some personal gain of something I lacked.
I am a black man
and I have fallen.
I look into the
mirror and forget my skin is dark.
I portray whatever
image I need, to get my name on the top of the charts.
I fight to get
on top and abandon all those that helped me get there.
I have forgotten
who I am so much that my own people have me scared.
I tend to the “man’s”
needs and every begging plea.
Just to earn a
small seat at the table of high society.
I change my God-given
physical traits.
In hopes that this
will be appealing to the so-called “superior” race.
I am a
black man and I have fallen.
I distribute the
poison that’s slowly killing off my race.
I accept it because
of all the cash I make.
Instead of fighting
to get these streets clean and safe,
I let the “man”
send it in, do my dirt, and turn my face.
I have been publicly
and socially defined as a disgrace.
I no longer know
my name because of this shame.
I am a
black man and I have fallen.
I have so much
anger and bitterness bottled up within me.
It’s not
even directed toward my race but I’m so blind I forget whose the enemy.
I allow ignorant
people to stereotype me because of my foolish way of life.
I allow the government
to control me because I choose to commit crime.
Values of strong
family unity and the importance of the father in the home?
All forgotten.
I am a black man
and although I have fallen, it’s up to me if I want to make a change.
There is still
hope for my people but I have to start learning from my mistakes.
The Creator is still present and He still sheds His grace.
He said it’s His will that He will never forsake.
So black men get reconnected and step up to the plate.
The
revolution, the transformation begins today.
