February marks National Black History Month. A time to recognize, illuminate and honor the collective contributions of people of color. According to History.com: “Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of blacks in U.S. history. The event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating black history.”

Accordingly, today’s post highlights the creative works of some talented Black poets here on the Chicago scene.

We hope you enjoy!

Gifts from Mother Africa

By EVE COGDELL

Beautiful black skin tones
Reflecting effects of nature’s own
Sun, beaming down in the heat of the day
Full luscious lips, some carved, some pouting
Relating tales of woe and mourning
Tales of wisdom and learning
Coal black, wooly hair
Rough to the touch
Yet, easily smoothed with hot comb or brush
Dark eyes, made darker
By the fire of determination
A spirit known only
To those who have triumphed
Triumphed over tribulation
Hands, powerful, strong hands
Stirring, serving, cradling, loving,
Caring, nurturing, lending,
Building, protecting, mending, praying
Feet, brazen and iron-clad, hard and calloused
Feet that have danced to the beat
Of the African drum
Feet that have traveled
Over rocks and hills
Through mountains and valleys, and other harsh terrain
They tell their own story
Of a people who have overcome
Yes, they have overcome adversity
To become the great warriors
And queens we know today

© Eve Cogdell

Residency

By JENNIFER BROWN BANKS

Despite the crime,
Despite the grit and grime,
Despite the rhetoric
Challenging his citizenship,

Let the records show
For all the nation to know
For future generations,
And history’s preservation,
That the 1st Black President lived here,

The home of Home Run Inn Pizza,
Buildings tall enough to kiss God,

Frigid winters,
And hot Jazz spots,
Notorious politicians,
The backdrop of fabulously famous writers,
Oprah’s former stomping ground,

Chicago,
More than a “toddlin’ town”
It’s called home for millions,
Where greatness hangs its hat,
A mecca for movers and shakers,
A great source of pride…

© 2012 Jennifer Brown Banks

Yet, I Dream

By A.D. MOORE

I dream of kings and queens
Of far away kingdoms,
From days of old,
With corn-rowed tresses
And ebony faces.
I dream of my forefathers,
Chained and shackled,
Brought to a distant land,
A home forever,
The motherland to see no more.
Bought and sold,
Their labors utilized
In the forging of a new nation
Called America—The Home of the Brave
And the Land of the Free.
I dream of Benjamin Banneker,
Crispus Attucks, Nat Turner, Den Mark Vessey,
Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington,
W.E.B. Dubois, Jean Baptiste DuSable,
George Washington Carver, Carter G. Woodson,
Thurgood Marshall, Dr. Martin Luther King…
I dream of Harriet Tubman,
Sojourner Truth, Mary McLeod Bethune,
Phillis Wheatly, Madame C.J. Walker,
Ida B. Wells, Mahalia Jackson,
Marian Anderson, Marjorie Stewart Joyner…
And other sisters and brothers
Who lit and carried the torch,
Then left it—-That we might see the way.
I dream! I dream! I dream!
Yes, Yet I dream!

© A.D. Moore

Mirrored Shades

By GAIL MERRIWETHER (A.K.A. POET COP)

Absorbing excess quantities of man’s inhumanity;
Pretending we’re unshakable
Teetering on the brink of
civilization and savagery;
Playing idealistic games
of law and order:
Suddenly
Shielding the windows to the soul
with reflectors
Becomes completely comprehensible
knowing that objects in the mirror
Are closer than they appear.

© Gail Merriwether

Image credits: Pixabay.com

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