Dictionary Black
I was looking through my dictionary
Just the other day
And in front of my eyes
Though I was not surprised
Was a list as long as my back
Giving literal form and fact
To all those words
Containing ‘Black’
The first thing it says is
Opposite to white
I say to myself
Mmhmm alright
It says
Persons with dark skin
It says
Black-hearted-dismal-grim
Angry-threatening
Black looks
Black marks
Black lists
And Black boots
Deadly-sinister-wicked-hateful
All these words to make us ‘grateful’?
… Black cap is what you get
When sentenced to death
Black Maria-Blackmail-Black Death
Hold on a sec’
Let me take a breath
I haven’t finished yet.
So just for a lark
I check out ‘dark’
Well guess what it says
It says Black
More or less
A darky is a Negro
Not fair-atrocious-evil
And the Prince of Darkness
Is the Devil
And of course
Africa is the continent dark
(where all those blackbirds* did embark)
You want to hear more?
Well guess what else . . .
You can darken one’s door
I knew what next to sight
So I turn to ‘white’
All sweetness and light
Not a bad word in sight.
So due to their fear
And their hatred
They have
On purpose created
A language deceiving
The whole world believing
This ‘Oxford Concise’
With its ‘ism’ and ‘schism’
And outright racism
While we pay the price . . .
* Blackbirds is a term that was used in the past to describe African slaves
Extract from a poem by Sista Roots from Watchers and Seekers
Ed: Rhonda Cobham & Merle Collins (Women’s Press, 1987)