For Dr. Amos Wilson: An Ode To History

 

History was never meant
to be captured in the pages of books
or some colorless, out of context subject
to be taught with bias and mistakenly

learned in institutions of brainwashing

and indoctrination;

History was never meant to be ignored
or forgotten by future generations
now lost in the course of time
unaware that they have no present direction
or sight of what once was, now is and

what will dreadfully be;

History was not meant to be told
by one's enemies and stripped
of its meaning and pride and love
and tongue and songs and dance
and eyes and ears and hands and
skin and memories and breath and
hair and home and children to
make the world a better place
for the conquerors of peace;

History was not intended to
sit silently on some remote street

out of view and watch the world
wither away in despair as if it
couldn't remember or didn't know
what to do in order to bring
back the life that it so needs to continue

History rather is the memory 

of Malcolm X passionately beating 

in the heart of the oppressed

the recollection of the words of

Dr. King spoken to address the 

indiscretions of the Military 

Industrial Complex

Because History is conscious

of what it seeks to accomplish

which is nothing less than the total 

conquest of the people's liberation

from enslavement and the colonization

of lands and information

of and by the elite

History is an alarm clock sounding

to awaken the masses from sleep

History is the living element

that makes a people complete

History is the past in the present

History is the looking glass

through which one sees the future

In essence

History is the blessing 

that reveals lessons

for the correction

of humanity's transgressions

And in the hearts and minds 

of those who know the time
and for the weak have a voice

History is the most effective

weapon of choice...