What is the madness?
Why does this socially forced folly exist?
Why is it a precipitous duality reigns in my soul?
The three-piece suit promotes the boardroom façade.
If I suited my black leather you dismiss me from the room.
My hair I permed, and even cut it off.
If I appeared with my Afro,
I’d be reduced to serving your coffee.
Enunciate. Pronounce. I am well-versed and well read.
But I’d be ignorant if I switched
Catcher and Rye for Rosewood.
Bach, Tchaikovsky, Candid, the bassoon.
If I groove to Marvin Gay, I am uncultured and crude.
Shakespeare, The Classics, A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream.
If I know more of you and less me,
I’m accepted, or so it seems.
If I want success, my color I must change.
A forced assimilation to this world;
Integrated, yet Caucasian framed.
I can’t be too black. I must be mostly white.
I must live on the right side of town.
If my color I must deny; my heritage I cannot claim.
I now question your success, your adulation and your fame.
The Chameleons cry from a self-realized soul…

"I am a Black Man ‘til the day I die!"


61

Excerpts from "A Winter's Soulstice". Copyright 2001.

i feel u 200%. this realization is all too true. thanx finally.

Klabarron, this is excellent
the many faces of a black man
to fit in the corporate profession....excellent piece!


Epiphany :heart:

You have laid out what is the black man's reality in this world.....I can not understand why or how some white/black people can say it is our, yours and my imagination, this isn't going on nowadays. Thank you for sharing.

Madd Holiday Greetings :heart:
CCBSKYN

MUCH LOVE FAM. THANKS.

this is simply AWESOME!

"Chameleons" have a dual curse upon them....no real honor or respect in either world....and worst of all, a distorted view of self.

thank you for bringing this!

a

tale of the black man
well done


DSSNY

This is a very important piece.Black Man and Black Woman never forget who you are and where you come from.:heart:

the real depth of some people in this world....

who look upon others with their unrealistic ideas of what the other is supposed to look like/act like/be like....while never looking in the mirror and being honest about what is reflected back....

a thoughtful piece that speaks truth...

k

much love FAM. its a reality. cold but true. thks for feelin' me...