the rising sun

he painted God white,
painted the prince of the night
pitch black,
called Africa the continent in the dark,
anyone who was dark
was perceived to be cursed
to be a genetic outcast,
nothing good was seen to come from our hands,
we were to toil in our lands,
give up our harvest and eat left over’s from the grass,
we were made to believe we belong in the dust
but amidst as,
amidst our dark skins
came great individuals,
they influenced the world,
made time stop by there words,
with speeches, articles, songs and sports
the social out casts
made permanent marks and scars
that changed the course of history,
Martin Luther king took it to the streets,
Nelson Mandela served jail time
for opposing apartheid,
Bob Marley sung of Africa redemption,
Dedan Kimathi was chained down to die,
Mohammed Ali fought in the square ring
to raise to the top of the world,
all through time,
we Afrikaans have proved
we can stand toe to toe with the best,
we never backed down,
never gave up on our dreams,
we died in the Maji Maji rebellion,
got tortured in the Nyao chambers
none the less we got up, united
we forged forward,
eon after eon we survived time,
with memories of what they fought for,
what they were jailed for
we survived yesterday to paint our God black,
with screams at the Kapenguria Six,
staking of African American in Texas by the KKK
we survived to see the rising sun of black power.
™©Mwangi Njoroge.