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| Which of us did not see this as perhaps a scene from a tragic contemporary Day of the Jackal about to develop before our eyes, as when Jack Ruby gunned down Harvey Oswald in the Dallas jail. |
It being the Ides of March
I’d like to remind us that we
Were all terribly fearful on
The day of President Obama’s
First inauguration, as he
Bravely strode openly on the
Streets of the capitol, that a
Shot would ring out to end
The tenure of America’s first
Black president before it had
Even begun. I recently saw a
Clip from the TV show Blackish
Which cited exactly that fear
On that day widespread among
American Blacks spreading
Even today, as evidenced by
Ta Ne’hesi Coates’ letter to
His son, Between the World
And Me. If you’re reading me
You probably felt it too. We
Like to think of ourselves as
Citizens of a country exempt
From coups. But we’re not, as
Our history of assassinations
And bloody violence proves.
However much we’d prefer to
Regard ourselves as a peace-
Loving nation, simple Pilgrims
Disembarking from a humble ship
Intent on making a peaceful life
In a new land, it would be far
More accurate to mark our
Beginning with the first rifle
Shots that downed the natives,
The sounds of which continue
To ring out on our streets and
On the streets of many foreign
Lands today.
c. J.S.Manista, 2016
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