A Black Boy Born the Fall of 1980, What is Blackness

by | Jan 2, 2020 | Creative Writing, Detention Center Writing Contests, Poetry

A Black Boy Born the Fall of 1980, What is Blackness

Aaron Connelley

Heard/Arlington County Detention Facility writing contest, August 2019

A proud influence and example of success gained was right in front of me the whole time, Blackness.

The Contrast of a Gold Nugget Watch against Midnight black skin

was a silent way to say I’m Proud

even though times for me have been trying.

The Black suit work to work

The Polished dress shoes

The Pride earned from years of hard investments

The limousine drove for a successful thriving Black Owned Business

For me to Embrace a Culture which has produced

Generation to Generation of Strength by

Standing on Faith and the Strong Willpower of Black Men/Women

with tight jaws facing injustices, that smile even though,

is my pain misunderstood also silent.

A lot has been unsaid.

Schools filtered what about my Blackface,

the sufferage, the Family dynamic that was disrupted and broken

enslaved never to be set Free

also to be Equal given a fair change after Emancipation.

No one wanted to explain the reason I was found in a common law adoption

probably never to know of the Lands of Ancestors originated.

The truth that they were brought Literally to an adopted Land themselves.

The Gold bracelet that was worn on the right wrist

A picture, Black & White of a Mother and Father posing side by side unsmiling.

Their chocolate skin draped in the nicest dress wear

A Black couple could obtain in the year, 1912

A Dollar Bill Enclosed inside the frame below

Serious melancholy Faces which sat atop a Bookshelf

Inside the zen inside our home

A lighter Hue my own complexion told Another secret.

Never, was I told I was weaker or that success couldn’t be mine.

This Ethnicity I Embrace, my Blackness

For all the unknown Silent messages

my immaturity wouldn’t allow the communication

from one Generation to the next did I miss a lesson, yes.

While I grow with interest for coming Generations

kissed with a Blackface,

concerned because the struggles will be real,

beginning to Erase ignorance within myself I too must pass on

A Silent message through action and example

Rather than not tell colored babies about their Black History,

Strengthen their knowledge about the Building Blocks

which from visions formed

the Pyramids in Africa

to the design of stones used to create the Washington Monuments

created within Black and Proud Minds

Rather than hold back because of Pain or Hurt.

Let’s empower the strength the Negro Skin exemplifies.

The Sacrifices, the torn Backs, the inequalities, the non-violent movements

in time against a Profound ignorance,

the stands took, the sit downs to disrupt injustice

was the Silent Cry in the Eyes of A Black Proud Man

right in front of me the whole time,

Blackness

I Ask that you Smile knowing the Silent message has been discovered…

 

Land of the Free

by | Dec 25, 2019 | Creative Writing, Detention Center Writing Contests, Non-fiction

Land of the Free

Marlan Barrington

Heard/Arlington County Detention Facility writing contest, August 2019

How can we call this the land of the free? When we have a major human rights issue, we have more people incarcerated than any other nation in the world. How was this nation ever great or ever will be great? The honest answer to that is, it never was great and maybe in due time this nation can become great, this nation treats its people like numbers more than they are treated like actual human beings and that just isn’t humane. I believe it’s time for a change from these outdated laws and lawmakers whose mind states are in an outdated time period, things in this era change fast and I believe certain things such as laws and people should change just as fast to keep up with the climate, as they say in Jamaica “Ah young people time now”.

I believe drug abusers should receive more mental health care, not jail time. Jail doesn’t provide the right means to rehabilitation for an abuser, it adds pressure and stress that builds up in a person. This causes them to relapse when they are released from incarceration, the War on Drugs was a failure considering drug use was on the decline before the “war” was declared, and the drug that boosted the “war” was “Crack”, which didn’t mysteriously hit the streets till sometime after the “War on Drugs” was declared, there were two “wars” that was declared but the one involving the Contras is the one that turned its people into monsters.

If we put the same amount of energy into helping those who need it mentally, that we put into trying to arrest them and properly rehabilitate them, we would have a much better society, I believe honestly feel that the jail/prison system should be for violent offenders, such as murderers, rapists, child molesters, etc. As a capitalistic nation there’s other ways to make money besides Mass Incarceration, which is hurting us, putting out a bad image of us to the rest of the world, making our nation look just as some of the same nation we look down on such as those in the Middle East.

How can we say we want world peace when we don’t even have peace within our own nation? Once we as a nation find our sense of community things can start to improve and problems will begin to find the best humane solutions. Some issues shouldn’t be issues in this nation, such as the sickening issue of homelessness. Those in need of assistance can be placed in facilities with or provide them with social work programs, to which they can complete and get on their feet. America is a capitalistic nation, we would want people to spend money, so why not give them what we want them to spend, at the same time boosting the economy, reducing the homeless numbers and also reducing unemployment rate.

The education system needs some improvement also, instead of when our youths grow up and enter the real world running into stressful situation, schools should start from Junior High School teaching kids about taxes, interest, mortgage, investments, debt, credit, and trades, so we can properly prepare them for the future. The money spent on the “Space Force” is insane. If aliens are real, how are we so sure they are a threat when history says our nation is usually the threat, or how do we know there will be some sort of galactic battle? Even the extreme amount of money we put into our military can be used for better things and the betterment of America’s social climate, Also since this is a capitalist nation, putting money to the society will increase education and jobs encouraging more workers, which would result in more money for the nation. Equality can’t be a quality without unity in the community!!