Seize the Opportunities
Little boy, little girl
Do you know how your history unfurled?
What do you know about the perils of slavery?
Do you know the price others paid for you to be free?
If it had not been for those who have gone before,
There would never have been an open door.
Did you know there was a day when black people
couldn’t be taught to read and write?
couldn’t be taught to read and write?
Imagine what that must have been like.
Taking away that privilege was a method of control.
Without knowledge a person is destined to lose his soul.
For our people, knowledge was the key to opportunity,
It was ultimately the light that guided the way to our forefathers being free.
The same holds true today.
Yet, the knowledge that can be ours some of us choose to throw away.
That’s why so many of us live with our backs against the wall
Having barely enough strength to crawl.
Black men’s desires and dreams are being sent to an early grave
As with their last breath they rant and rave
About how the white man is holding them back.
Did the white man tell them to smoke crack?
Today every opportunity we have gained is slowly being snatched back.
Some are too complacent to realize the subtle attack.
Yes, I know they put the drugs all over our community
So they could be accessed freely.
Ultimately, the decision to live right is ours to make.
We have the wisdom to realize that drugs don’t give, they take.
They take your home, your wife,
Sometimes they even take your life.
Are you willing to pay such a price?
No one in his right mind would willingly surrender his life?
Have you ever considered this?
Wasted opportunities are opportunities you willingly miss.
Do you realize that you are guilty of ingratitude?
Check your attitude.
Are your actions saying thank you to those who paved the way
Or are you throwing it all away?
There will come a day when what little we have will be stripped away.
We must prepare for that day.
We can’t do it without preparing our mind.
There will be no welfare line.
We won’t have anything to fall back on in our time of need.
So please, take heed.
This is a dog eat dog world and only the strong will survive.
If you don’t have what it takes to make it through, you will be eaten alive.
It’s true God will open doors,
But he can’t make us walk through the open doors.
We have to take advantage of every opportunity that comes our way.
We can’t afford to throw anything away.
Each and every window of opportunity was obtained through the blood, sweat and tears of those who have gone before.
I personally, will always thank them for opening those doors
By trying to help others see the importance of making their dreams come true
How about you?
copyright by P. Newman-Harris
Martin Luther King Jr. -
- If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, "Here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well."
- If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, "Here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well."