Eyes the Color of Night

African sister with eyes the color of night
Eyes with pools of sorrow
and no reflection of light.
The lines on your face
Tell a story that time will never erase.
It's your eyes that draw me in
Deep within
Betraying things you have yet to say
They reveal every trial you've had to face
All the things that have left a bitter taste
I look deeper still and I see courage,
Tempered rage and wisdom beyond age,
Strength that has sustained
Despite unbearable strain.
Even though sometimes things don't make sense,
you continue to draw from a well spring of strength
Enduring amid tribulation running wild,
Silently, bearing the weight since you were a child
I wonder how the heart repairs
From a hurt that is always there.
Any back would have broken from the strain.
I don't know you name
But I can see the pain
That shows in your eyes
I can even hear your cries.
I know the weight you carry is becoming
hard to bear
I can look in your eyes and see the truth there.
I will never forget your eyes,
eyes the color of night,
eyes with pools of sorrow
and no reflection of light.

Copyright Patricia Newman-Harris

Seize the Opportunities

Seize the Opportunities

Little boy, little girl,

Do you know how your history unfurled?

Do you know of the perils of slavery,

Of the price others paid for you to be free?

If it had not been for those who went before,

There would be no open door.

Did you know there was a day when black people

Were denied the right to learn to read or write?

Can you imagine what that must have been like?

Taking away that privilege was a method of control.

Without knowledge a person will lose his soul.

For our people, knowledge became the key

To opportunity,

Ultimately, the light that led the way to

Our forefathers being free

The same holds true today.

Yet, the wisdom that is ours to take is

Being thrown away

That’s why many of us live with our backs

Against the wall,

Barely able to crawl.

Black men’s desire and dreams are going 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?

So blind are they that they cannot see

They hold the key to opportunity.

They are too complacent to see the subtle attack

Every opportunity we have earned is slowly

Being snatched back

We have to fight to keep what we have earned.

We cannot do this if we refuse to learn.

Ultimately, the decision to live right is ours to make.

We have the wisdom to realize that drugs do not

Give, they only take.

They take, your home, your will to succeed,

Your wife,

Sometimes, they even take your life.

Are you willing to pay such a price?

No one in his right mind would willingly lay down

His life.

Have you 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?

Soon, there will be a day when what little we have

Will be stripped away.

We must prepare for that day.

We have to prepare our minds.

There will be no welfare line.

There will be nothing to fall back on in our

Time of need

So, take heed.

This is a dog

Eat dog world,

Only the strong survive

If you don’t have what you need to

Make it, you will be eaten alive.

God opens doors

But he can’t make us walk through the open

Doors.

We have to seize each and every window

of opportunity  that comes our way,

We cannot throw anything away.

Everything we possess was obtained through

The blood, sweat and tears of those who have

Gone before.

We can show our gratitude by being thankful for every open door,

As well as, accepting the challenge and responsibility

To seize every opportunity.

Copyright P. Newman-Harris

Dreams are possible, but you are one who can make them come true.

In the words of Lacrae, "Don't waste your life." 

Thank you...To the Legends of our Past

To the Legends of Our Past

To our ancestors,

Our spiritual intercessors

To the legends of our past

Thank you

For allowing us to walk

a clearer path.

As we walk these hallowed halls of time,

Memories of you come to mind.

To the pioneers that blazed freedom’s trail,

That through faith, prevailed;

To those such as Abraham Lincoln,

That wrote proclamations,

declarations, and civil rights bills

Trying to cure society’s ills;

To those who fought to right the world’s wrongs,

To give us a place to belong,

To those who fought to eradicate

Injustice, bigotry and hate.

You sacrificed.

You paid the price.

To those who carried the burden of race,

Died for being in the wrong place.

To Martin and John,

Malcolm and Medgar;

To Rosa Parks,

Who was the spark

That ignited the flame to the

our nation's emancipation

From the bonds of discrimination;

To Jane Pittman, Harriet Tubman,

W.E.B. Dubois and

George Washington Carver;

To the firsts at schools such as Yale,

West Point and Harvard;

To those who paid their dues,

Sang and played jazz, gospel and blues;

From Billie Holiday

To Cab Calloway,

Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong,

Pearl Bailey, Tommie Dorsey;

To Bo Jingles, the Nicholas Brothers,

Sammie Davis, Jr. and all those who tapped

And came in through the back

To perform their act.

To the pioneers of movies, television and radio,

Hattie McDaniel, Eartha Kitt, Josephine Baker

Sidney Portier, Diahann Carroll, and Bill Cosby

To Lena Horn

Who took America by storm,

Paving the way

For the Oprah Winfrey’s

Halle Berry’s and Kerry Washington’s of today.

To those men who pioneered fields of biology,

Geology and astronomy.

To the legends of music, literature and poetry,

Without you there would be no record of our

history.

To the legends that led this country in sports

Such as football, basketball, boxing, track

And on the courts,

Athletes like, Arthur Ashe,  Jesse Owens,

Jackie Robinson, and the Jack Jacksons

Of our past, who showed everyone how to

Play with class;

To those for whom justice was blind,

To those who fought on the front lines

And stepped on mines;

Commanded the seas and commandeered

The skies; to brave black men like

The Tuskegee Airmen, who soared the clouds

And made us proud;

You sacrificed,

You paid the price.

We can never thank you enough.

No, we can never thank you enough.

To all those who died with unfilled dreams

And wishes, wanting to do more than clean

Toilets and wash dishes,

To my brothers and sisters of African soil

Who died on slave ships and were

Thrown away with the spoils;

To those who survived to be captured and

Chained, sold and renamed

For America’s gain;

To those who awakened at the rooster’s crow

Working to pay a debt they never owed;

To all the slaves

Buried in unmarked graves;

To those who died hanging from a tree,

Never knowing what it meant to be free;

From the greatest of these to the unsung heroes

That this world will never know.

To the legends of our past,

Because of you the path has been clearer

The vision, nearer

Than ever before,

You led us to the door.

Now your dreams are ours to conceive.

Because of you, we can believe.

You endured the pain

You suffered the blame.

We can never thank you enough.

No, we can never thank you enough.

So, we celebrate your creativity.

We thank you for our history.

To the legends of our past,

Thank you for creating a clear path.

To the pioneers that blazed freedom’s trail,

That, through faith, prevailed,

You sacrificed.

You paid the price.

To our ancestors,

Our spiritual intercessors,

To the legends of our past.

Thank you for allowing us to walk

A clearer path.

Copyright Patricia Newman-Harris

This poem was written and inspired by Oprah Winfrey's celebration of our

Legends.  

To the legends of our past, thank you for being the wind beneath our wings.

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