Medium: Poetry
Description: June Jordan's “I Must Become a Menace to My Enemies”...the words “must become” just fill me with life and vitality. The manifestation of a future self that she has decided she “must” be. I think it is something that has been and continues to be extremely important for us. I like to ask what must we become, to be greater versions of ourselves.
Instagram: @durelSankofa
Inspired by June Jordan’s “I Must Become a Menace to My Enemies”
We standing in line at a gas station
Hot, sticky and a little impatient waiting at this station
When a BLK boy walks in,
Asking for a refund, but
Storeowner just laughs at him
Boy gets mad throws a bit of a tantrum then
Storeowner comes around the corner with a weapon and
(Pause)
The gun went off and a life was lost
With no island or protracted series on TV to explain the cause
Just loss
Loss like jobs when American Axle moved their factories overseas
Loss like funding for recreational centers in my “inner-city” communities
Loss
As in BLK boy no longer living
This makes my community livid
They draw up signs to picket
“I’m ridin’ the change train-I got my ticket!”
“Ain’t gon’ let thangs stay the same-you’d best get with it!”
You read the paper that came?
Storeowner got acquitted
I’m all in my fillins’
Gon’ come on the block, set up shop, get paid off our pockets
See our boy and think he got a license for killin?
No, not in my hood-not in my village
Why can’t they treat us good?
We human, we got fillins’, we got value
Call up fox 2
And a whole slew of other local news crews
Been on this land too long to stand this kind of abuse
(The next day, the people gathered)
“March until your feet tire!
March until your back hurts!
We got a boycott requested by the BLK church
A call to action came from my Pastor
I wish Jesse Jackson could get here faster
The movement was gaining traction-
I could feel a change was at work
That’s when a store clerk crossed to change the # on the price sign
Gallon of Gasoline was $4.15
Now
Dollar-Ninety-Nine
Ppl would ride across town for the low gas price
$1.99-are you out of your mind?
How much of a saving can cost a community its spine?
Can you make them forget the boy died before his Momma stops crying?
Leave the car wash before the car’s done drying
Out the lot and down the block to wait in line
From no justice no peace
To
I won’t let these acts of Satan
Make me miss these savings
Storeowner gon’ get his Karma gon’ pay him
But right now I gotta fill my tank and
This is some cheap gasoline...