It was the Sunday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day when Street Sense vendor, David, shared a poem he’d written entitled Commentary to A Black Man. The poem reached the President’s desk, and David proudly showed off President Obama’s response to him.
Commentary to a Black Man
by David Denny
“This is a commentary we must all face,
of the devastation we have caused on our race.
We blame the white man for everything and all,
But on our streets we make the call.
We drive by and shoot and kill,
And sell all the drugs that make our community ill.
There’s a queue at the morgue for the blacks who are dead,
But who really cares? It’s just a crackhead.
Martin Luther’s dream is a vague shadow in a lost yesterday,
For all of his efforts this is how we repay.
Can you imagine the tears of his face,
From the devastation we have wrought on our own race?
We have brought our poor sisters down in shame,
And still we point to the white man as the blame.
But I become puzzled when I try to explain
Where I saw the white man who sold her cocain.
I’ve seen her stoop lower than low,
I’ve seen them doing things that would sicken a ho’.
For just one blast she’ll sell her ass,
In abandoned buildings on broken glass.
She sells her food stamps and leaves her kids unfed,
And when she starts geeking she sells her head.
We lower the status of our girlf friend, call ‘em hood rats or project chicks,
But this is how we get our kicks.
We subject our own soulmates to this denigrating fate.
Spurred on by insecurities, arrogance and self hate.
We have whittled our family structure down to fragments and shreds,
While we prance with bravado and swollen heads.
We are the patriarchs of this fallen tribe,
We bit the carrot, we took the bribe.
Our future’s stamped on the front page,
Statistics on our youth not coming of age.
This is a commentary we must all face,
Of the devastation we have caused our own race.”
In his letter the President responded, “We need to change the statistics for young men and boys of color--not just for their sake, but for the sake America’s future... I have great hope we can change the commentary.”
Jaime Colman does advocacy work and event planning for the National Alliance to End Homelessness. She graduated from Houghton College with honors in Intercultural Studies and Sociology. Prior to working at the Alliance, Jaime interned with World Vision International. Her interests include the social experience of persons with disabilities in developing countries, international development, and homelessness. Jaime is an avid birder and sojourner of faith.