(written to “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy)

They gotta give us what we want.

And they gotta give us what we need.

We’re tired of them planting Black bodies in the ground

but we must defy the trauma we face and grow because we’re

merely the fruit that came from the seeds that our ancestors

sowed.

Reparations should be non-negotiable because it’s time that

we’re paid what we’re owed.

Black labor is that mp3 file that the United States

illegally downloads.

But at each moment and each hour it’s on each of us to fight the

power.

There is no time to cower.

What do we have to fear since our ancestors are near

and God towers over any obstacles we face?

America knows we’re coming for ours.

That’s why Jeff Bezos is trying to colonize space.

They used to call us brutes and savages that came from the

jungles and Amazon

but what would America be if it wasn’t for people that looked

like me who spent their lives working on the development of a

country where they would never truly belong.

It’s why I write these poems for my people

who woke before the crack of dawn.

For the ones who bled from their palms.

I have to use this voice that was birthed in cotton fields

in the face of white overseers on horseback

and I have no choice but to lash back on behalf

of my people who felt the whip crack and suffered from lashed

backs.

I write this for my ancestors who fought literacy tests and a

poll tax.

This poem is Black power unabridged.

This poem is for the folks who fought the power on the Edmund

Pettus Bridge

Nick Courmon is an international poet, spoken word artist, workshop facilitator, and motivational speaker from Greensboro, NC. Nick uses his art to teach African American History, address a myriad of social issues, and to advocate for mental health awareness. Nick has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, NBC's Today, VICE News, and Narratively. Nick has also used his art to collaborate with Beats by Dre, USA Today, the Museum of Contemporary Art: North Miami, Missourians Against the Death Penalty, Democracy NC, NC Black Alliance, the Wounded Warrior Project, Palta. Read his work at: www.ndcpoetry.com

Photo: @sihim_