Little Rock Nine-Don't Forget to Remember-Seize the Opportunities

Tribute to the Little Rock Nine

Little Rock Nine

When I think of black history,

You come to mind.

In turbulent times

You stood strong

Bravely, fighting to right

our nation's wrong.

You did what you had to do.

Nothing could stop you.

Your courage, your strength,

Your determination

Changed a nation

You climbed high the mountain of

Segregation

So that people of every station

could have a right to a decent education.

Through the name calling and spitting,

You choose to hang tough.

You could have said enough,

But you endured for us.

You suffered humiliation,

anger and wrath,

Everyday you went to class.

When threatened with attack

You didn't turn back.

You were so young,

But you stood, 

Bravely as you could

How can we not be proud?

When through the angry, screaming crowd,

You pressed, heads held high,

You walked on by,

Sailed the winds of adversity,

Crossed the angry sea

For you and for me.

You endured

Resting secure

That your labors would not be in vain.

You bore the anger, you bore the pain.

Now it is up to us to walk through the doors

You opened wide

With the same determination and pride

You blasted the doors of segregation,

Paved a way to the road of education,

Gave us an opportunity to matriculate

on an equal playing field

That our destiny could no longer be sealed

by the chains of inequality.

When I think of black history

Little Rock Nine,

You will always come to mind.

Patricia Newman-Harris

Open letter to our children

I'm writing this letter to you in the hopes that you will not only open your ears, you will finally hear.

I wish that I could wake those who slumber and sleep on the bed of complacency and apathy.  Would that I could make you see that you don't have to be content with the ordinary.  I know you get tired of hearing the same old same, but I want you to understand that you can be whatever you want to be.  You are not confined by person or place, color or race.  Oh, that you would finally hear what the universe is so loudly speaking.  You are worthy.  You can succeed in any endeavor if you try.  You are not defined by where you live or the color of your skin.  These are messages that some don't want you to hear, but if you listen, you can hear them loud and clear.  I know you can succeed, but you have to believe you can.  Failure is not a fact, nor is it is an option to be considered.  You have the same courage, determination, and power as the Little Rock Nine.  You don't have the obstacles they had to endure.  You just get up, put on your clothes and go to school.  There is no one physically standing outside to block your way.  Those children endured the worse so that you would have the opportunity to equal education.  Granted, all schools are still not equal, but you have to do the best you can with what you are given.  You can't blame your parents, the schools, or the teacher.  You have to do the best you can do.   Inevitably, you are responsible for you.  If you feel you are not learning in class, use the internet to learn what you need to learn.  You use it for anything else you want to know.  It is a powerful tool of education that is available to almost anyone.

In closing, I want you to know that there is a debt you owe, not just to yourself, but to every person who endured injustice, suffered or died for you and for me.  They handed you a legacy...opened wide the doors of opportunity.  It hurts me when I see you throwing it away without thought or consideration of our history.

Your freedom is a gift that was bought with the blood, sweat and tears of our ancestors.  It is not yours to throw away.  You have to seize every opportunity, throwing nothing away.  Nothing!  

In case you haven't noticed, people are quickly gobbling up the crumbs that fall from America's table.  They are hungry for the opportunities you so callously throw away.  Here, we sit in the land of plenty willingly starving from a lack of knowledge, refusing to go to college, when our forefathers burned for the chance to learn.

I hope you will accept and consider what I have said seriously.  Your future is in your hands.  Do all you can to stand.  When you feel like you can't stand anymore, stand.  I know you can.  Remember, the race is not given to the swift or the strong, but to the one who is willing to endure to the end.  I want to see you win. 

That is my sole desire.  I just want to see you win!

See link below for information on the story of the Little Rock Nine.

http://crdl.usg.edu/events/little_rock_integration/?Welcome

Remembering Our Past-Being Thankful for our Future

As the new year and the celebration of Black history month approaches, rather than making a New Year’s Resolution, I find myself reflecting on the last year, counting my blessings, and giving thanks for what God has done in my life.

What better time than the New Year to give special consideration to those who, through their sacrifices, made things better for us? It is an opportune time to celebrate their gift of a legacy of freedom and hope.
As recipients of that legacy, we have an awesome responsibility. If our forefathers had not prepared our way, where would we be today?   For that reason alone, we must live a life that would make them proud.

Instead, many of us are wasting our lives. I know we still struggle, as blacks, living in a “white” world, but we have to keep fighting the battle. It may not be fair that we continuously have to prove ourselves and substantiate our self-worth, but it was not fair that our people were brought to this country and held as slaves. What could be worse than what our forefather’s had to endure? We have so much more than they had, yet I continue to hear our people saying, “The white man is holding me back.” In saying this, you are surrendering your destiny to some else. In reality, you are the only one who can hold you back, so if you are not where you want to be, it is time to assess yourself.

I know these may seem like harsh words, but it is time we stopped sugar coating the truth. If you are hanging out on the corner every morning, smoking dope, dealing drugs, selling your body, doing time, it is because you choose to do so.  Life is about choices. We choose our directions. That is evident, because there are black people who are successful. They got where they are, because they chose to make whatever sacrifices were necessary to reach their goal. Not all of them were raised under perfect circumstances.

To my brothers and sisters who are gang banging. I have a special message. It hurts me to my heart to see you wasting your lives. Your life is a gift from God, and how dare you waste it that way? Because of you, the white man no longer has to make an effort to destroy our communities. You are doing it for him. If you choose to continue in this lifestyle, I beg of you, do not influence other young people to take a road you know will lead to destruction. Do not let someone else’s life be on your head.

My people, we are not meant to be failures. We have inherited a courageous spirit from our ancestors. They have deposited that spirit in each of us. It is time to draw from their well spring of courage and determination.
If a rich relative of yours passed way and left you a fortune would you not claim your inheritance immediately? Well, we have been left something far more valuable. To refuse it would be foolish, and it would be a travesty and an injustice to those who gave their lives to secure our future.

This year, as we celebrate Black History Week, let us give special consideration to those who have paved the road to freedom. Let us also give thanks for the gift and make a pact to do all we can, as individuals, to cherish our inheritance.

We must endeavor to be the best we can be, and make a commitment to family and community. That is not only our duty, it is our call, for we are not descendants of an apathetic, complacent people, but a people who were the embodiment of strength and determination.

We are the navigators on the seas of our lives, and we, have the power to control our destiny. Whether we fail or succeed depends on the choices we make.

This was written in January, 2000 and was posted on timbooktu.com.  There are other writings posted to this site if you want to check them out, they are posted under P. Newman-Harris.

Listen to the words of this song by Donald Lawrence.  There is truly a King in each one of us.  Our forefathers died that we might be free.  We have to start living like we are free!

Black History Month-Ride Rosa Ride

Ride Rosa Ride

December 1955

One bus ride

Changed the world as we knew it

Altered our destiny

Redefined history

That day the familiar

Became unfamiliar

What used to make sense

Made no sense.

One woman boarded the bus

And took a seat

To rest her tired feet.

When asked to stand

She decided to let it all ride

Threatened with jail,

You prevailed.

So, ride Rosa ride

Ride for every stripe to our forefather’s back,

Ride for justice,

Freedom and equality

Ride for you and me.

Ride for every slave that died.

Rest your tired feet and ride.

You were ordered to stand

But that was not in your plan

You held your head high

And let it ride

Tired of accepting what had always been

You threw caution to the wind

Ride Rosa ride.

Take a seat

Rest your tired feet

Hold your head high

And ride

Ride for her stripes to our forefather’s back

Ride for every racial attack

Ride for the injustices we had to face

Take your rightful place.

Hold your head high and ride.

You did not realize what you did

But you changed the world as we knew it

That’s what you did.

That’s what you did.

Quietly, peacefully

You unveiled the ugliness of inequality

When you decided

to ride.

So ride Rosa ride.

Hold your head high 

And ride

Ride, ride, ride

Ride Rosa ride.

Copyright Patricia Newman-Harris

poetry collection:  Living the Dream

Create Space

Black History Month... Freedom Train

I close my eyes
Visions of long ago I see

Spirits of the past calling me.

What is it I hear?

Sounds like a train whistle drawing near.

Ain’t no ordinary train

It’s the freedom train

Underground and out of sight

Comin like a thief in the night

Freedom train,

Freedom train.

Comin round the bend

Songs of freedom blowing in the wind

Freedom train, freedom train.

Goin ride that freedom train.

Freedom train, freedom train.

Nothing will be the same

Voices travelin in the dark of night,

“Don’t go left, go right.”

Bloodhounds drawing near

As if they can smell the fear

Hush

Hush

Don’t make a sound

Or we will be found

Can’t get tired now

Gotta keep on goin somehow

Freedom train,

Freedom train
Goin ride that freedom train.
Goin underground.
Freedom bound
Leaving my burdens and my cares
Going over there
No chains shackling me
Going live like I'm free
Going live like I'm free.
Freedom train
Freedom train

Comin round the bend

Songs of freedom blowing in the wind.

We have waited so long for this day

Goin sing a song of freedom in a land far away
By and by
No more tears to cry
All sorrows have passed

Goin be free at last

Freedom train, freedom train

Goin ride that freedom train

Some who once came to ride

Have long since died

Their spirits keep calling me

For what a tragedy

That some had to die and never see

Their dream of freedom become reality

Wish that they were here

to hear
The whistle of freedom blow once again.
Wish that I could tell them the suffering has come to an end.
All sorrows are passed

We are free at last

Freedom train freedom train comin round the bend

Songs of freedom blowing in the wind.

Freedom train, freedom train

Goin ride that freedom train.

copyright Patricia Newman-Harris

Poetry collection:  Living the Dream

Celebrating Black History Month-Remembering Where it Began

For Black History Month, I will be sharing some of the poems I have written that will be included in a soon to be published collection entitled, Living the Dream




This poem was inspired by Alex Haley's, Roots

From Africa to America

One man traced his roots back to Africa.

Back to where it all began.

His odyssey sparked by the story of how, long ago, his people,

were taken from a land far across the sea.

It was the story of a people stripped of their

native heritage and sold into slavery;

A people, without a voice,

Without freedom of choice

It was the story of a people who struggled to hold onto

Their dignity as their women were violated and their families

ripped apart

Often scourged and beaten by their masters,

They still possessed a courage that was admired and envied.

If they cried out, they cried out in anguish to their Heavenly Father,

Who was the only source of hope in a darkened existence.

They were a people whose spirit could not be broken, a people

Who courageously continued to cling to the customs and values of

Their motherland. 

Throughout the years, generation after generation told the story of how it

All began.  Who would know that one day, the story would find its way back to Africa?

That this people, once stolen from their native soil would become the fruit

Of a country that sought to enslave their very souls?  Who would know that

This people would rise above their plight and one day take their place among the best

In society, becoming doctors, lawyers, and teachers?  It was what our ancestors had dreamed of, fought for and hoped would come to be.

We can be proud because we  have inherited the spirit of courage and determination possessed by our African ancestors.  We were born warriors, and as such, we will stand our ground and fight for our place in this land.

Through us, the story of how it all began will go on, from America to Africa and back again.

We will carry this story throughout time.  It will forever be a part of our history, forever in our hearts

And in our souls, for it is the one thing time can never erase.

copyright Patricia Newman-Harris