Black Poetry : Louisiana Plantation

An important point made here...

Desert Storm said:
Jazzy-I'm glad you cleared that up for me and elaborated.
I will say this, you have inspired me to have a lil more faith in my kin. I guess for me, when you said, that you will embrace your blackness, to me that meant that, I am not embracing my blackness by finding out that I have white people in the fam.

There was a point and time that I hated white people. However, that didn't really help me feel that better about myself in the long run.

I remember being a kid and a best friend of mine who was white, her parents didn't like me because I was black. One day she wrote on the chalkboard that , Being black matters, in big bold words. My mom says that at some point I told her that I wished my legs were white. I don't remember that but I have never forgot it.

My mom is a teacher and I went to a private school off and on throughout growing up. Because the tuition was super cheap for employees, me and my brother went to those schools. I have grown up around a lot of diversity and white people.

I went from speaking my ghetto english to proper english in no time. I know the games that white people play and am very used to them. In a way I resented being in that kind of environment all the time. It didn't help that we were pretty poor as well, so all the stuff that I saw little white gurls have, I wanted.

I still do have to put up with a lot from white people,period.

Anywayz, for me to embrace the fact that I have white in me was a big step. I'm not biracial but have those strong genes in my family so I came out looking mixed up anywayz. It didn't help when I wanted to fit in.

So there's a lot of pain still there needless to say.
I'm really in a place of just not caring anymore. I feel dead inside. So it's been a journey. I've been sorting out a lot of things this year. You do have to love yourself, for realz. Thanks for the love that you extend. I think I can shake on this.


Miss Lady, I know I've grown up with somebody that looked just like you when I lived in San Jose, CA. It's really funny too... hee,hee,hee.
Thanks
DS
Quote: "Anywayz, for me to embrace the fact that I have white in me was a big step."

The key in this are the words FOR ME.

A lot of Black folks are in denial that this is their reality. Even worse, they have been lied to into believing that slavery is their Legacy. Slavery is PART of the Legacy of SOME Black people. The majority in this country but not ALL.

In fact, one of my Ancestors, JC Still, was born in slave era in Alabama. His father Peter Still was a FREE BLACK MAN who was captured and taken into slavery and was later granted his freedom after meeting his Brother, a free black man in Philadelphia. Peter Still later moved back to Alabama and BOUGHT his family and then later migrated from Alabama.

JC Still was JR Clipper's brother in law {He married one of "Cissy's granddaughters also} and also a founder of Boley Township.

There are numerous FREE BLACK families who came to this country prior to 1690 that may have come as indentured servants or "slaves" that were Free Black. So many in Virginia that at one time they outnumbered the white settlers. Same in South Carolina. Ever see those movies about what happened with the riot in New York or Boston where white people attacked free black? That is because many of them were of BRITISH or IRISH descent. And many of those Blacks migrated freely. There also were free blacks who migrated from France and Italy. many settled in Quebe, Nova Scoita and Tres Rivores. They later settled in Chicago and down further the Mississippi River eventually in Orleans parish....

Our problem is this one sided SLAVE mentality. Which shoots down any alternative viewpoint about our historical realities.

If and when you KNOW otherwise, keep this KNOWLEDGE and you and yours can never be destroyed.

The very same "white folks" that are in my bloodline from france (Morney, de Mornay) are indeed intermixed with the Valois bloodline, which goes back to the early Merovignians who claimed descent from the "blood of jesus". Tracing this bloodline back I found that they also claim ancestry from one of the daughters of Pharaoh Akhenaten.

The interesting thing here is that the Valois line I am descendded from researchers claim that it doesnt exist because the Ancestor Charles Duke of Angouleme was an illegitimate sone of King Charles X. And those who follwed usurped the bloodline by claiming Charles X had no male heir. Because he was illegitimate. This usurpation was orchestrated by his wife Catherine de Medici.

Catherine herself had an illegitimate brother, D'Allesandro. The Duke of Florence. His mother was NUBIAN. His actual father was Pope Clement.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_de_Medici

The point here is that this "race mixing" PREDATES slavery. Keep in mind that SOME of the early Black here were sailers, navigators and soldiers of fortune. They did NOT first appear here as slaves and indentured servants. They were Aristocracy and Nobility in europe and Northern Africa, chiefly Morocco.


Just KNOW you and do YOU.

As I do ME.

Peace...
 
Knowing your self

If all I knew was that my mom was a crack head and my father was a pimp(for real)...then loving me would be kinda hard...BUT I ALSO KNOW THAT NO MATTER MY MOMS CONDITION...there is people who would and could tell you about her heart, her hustling and cooking skills!!!...I ALSO KNOW THAT MY FATHER WAS IN THE UNION SINCE HE WAS A TEENAGER...CONSTRUCTION FORMAN, BARBER, TAILOR, COOK, MEDICINE MAN...AND RIGHT BEFORE HE GOT KILLED WAS GONNA RUN FOR A POLITICAL OFFICE ...MY grandfathers was something else also...one built and ran a city...the other was in all four branches of the military...both no more than 5'5 tall!

See just knowing all the other sides of my family made me strong...my kids and I pull from that all the time any time someone tries to make us feel less cuz of our current situation or complexion we just laugh knowing what we are capable of and who came before us.

I know not your struggle...but wish you Peace and Blessings!!!
 
Lovely Brothaz & Sistahz

Jazzy, & omowalejabali, When I wrote this poem, I had no clue how this thread would end out. I am very happy of its turnout simply because, there are definate valid points here.

Jazzy, I understand what you are saying and where you are coming from in it's entirety. Concepts of beauty are definately defined and based on more of european feautures and who is closest to them in this country for black people as far as that's concerned. However, being mixed doesn't necessarily mean that you're "pretty" either. When I saw the picture of my white relatives and mulato great grand parents, they definately looked european, but they weren't "pretty". They were just what they were "mixed" colored folk. A lot of black people still try to do all sorts of stuff, to not be closer to or identify as totally "BLACK" and anyone who tells me other wise is a lying. Not all blacks do this but a lot of blacks do it, when they say different things that steer them away from esteeming other blacks who's features are more African in any way. Unfortunately, this how many have been programed to think.

In my conclusion of all of this, I have to say that I don't really care what my kids come out looking like, if it be kinky hair, midnight black, and have stronger looking african features or not. What I simply am saying is no matter what my kids come out looking like, and no matter what their kids come out looking like, I want them to appreciate the features hair, skin, color, and everything that God gave them naturally. I want to marry someone who embraces these views as well. Cuz, no matter what is what, my kids will be REPRESENTIN 100% rockin a fro, cornrows, twisties, or beads, curly, medium curly, wavy, or straight. I will always instill that in my family and encourage them to embrace that in their families because SELF-ACCEPTANCE for who you are no matter who you are is what matters to me. It one of those things that you will have to come to terms with at some point in your life no matter who you are or whose you are. I don't ever want my kids feeling bad about who they are, where they come from, or what they look like. I thank you Jazzy, for your strong point of view, because it has helped me to EMBRACE ME even more and am blessed by reading your input about it all. I feeleth your pinch, and it was a pinch well needed. ALL OF GODS BLESSINGS TO YOU AND YOURS

MOST SINCERELY,
DESERT STORM

ONE LUV
 
omowalejabali , Have you ever read, Aren't I A Woman, female slaves in the Plantation South by Deborah Gray White

I understand the history aspect as well, and probably felt a little more liberty to post this poem after reading that book.

Now, don't get me wrong, the accounts of slavery and things that were done are not humane and are horrible. However, the book counts numberous times, (which shocked me in a way), where slave owners and the slaves had real relationships. One story accounted that the slaver owner and the slave moved and away and got married and stuff, ya know. So I know that there was a lot going on there.

For me, it's more of a sore spot when I have to tell kin folk, after answering the question, "Am I mixed" with a NO and I clearly say that I'm African American, then automatically you should know, it must have been mixing in the 1800s or sumptin.

My family has not mixed with anyone since the 1800s. So for me it's kinda ridiculous when I have to go there and explain it all. I've only met one other sistah that looked mixed like me and when I asked her if she was mixed, she said no and knew right away that her situation was probably a lot like mine. My mothers parents both had Native American/Black parents, my dads parents both had Native/Black & white and Black/Spanish parents.

I remember asking my great grandma before she passed away, what we were mixed with and she simply replied, we're not mixed with nothing, we're just a bunch of negroes. That made me laugh because that was probably what her parents told her to say when she was growing up. She had red hair, freckles, very fair skin, and hazel eyes and she used to call herself "carrot top", thus we would call her "carrot top" as well. Even if there was mixing in the blood line the children were told not to talk about it, however we're in a time where people like to talk about now. It may also be more of California thing or something cuz I know when I went to Atlanta for a fam reunion, I saw plenty of men and women who looked like me and it wasn't a big deal. It's just a big deal in Cali. And a lot of whites can't handle the fact that you just could be more attractive than them unless you have some white in you some where. Their so VAIN.

Much love,
Desert Storm
 
Sister Desert Storm

Desert Storm said:
omowalejabali , Have you ever read, Aren't I A Woman, female slaves in the Plantation South by Deborah Gray White

I understand the history aspect as well, and probably felt a little more liberty to post this poem after reading that book.

Now, don't get me wrong, the accounts of slavery and things that were done are not humane and are horrible. However, the book counts numberous times, (which shocked me in a way), where slave owners and the slaves had real relationships. One story accounted that the slaver owner and the slave moved and away and got married and stuff, ya know. So I know that there was a lot going on there.

For me, it's more of a sore spot when I have to tell kin folk, after answering the question, "Am I mixed" with a NO and I clearly say that I'm African American, then automatically you should know, it must have been mixing in the 1800s or sumptin.

My family has not mixed with anyone since the 1800s. So for me it's kinda ridiculous when I have to go there and explain it all. I've only met one other sistah that looked mixed like me and when I asked her if she was mixed, she said no and knew right away that her situation was probably a lot like mine. My mothers parents both had Native American/Black parents, my dads parents both had Native/Black & white and Black/Spanish parents.

I remember asking my great grandma before she passed away, what we were mixed with and she simply replied, we're not mixed with nothing, we're just a bunch of negroes. That made me laugh because that was probably what her parents told her to say when she was growing up. She had red hair, freckles, very fair skin, and hazel eyes and she used to call herself "carrot top", thus we would call her "carrot top" as well. Even if there was mixing in the blood line the children were told not to talk about it, however we're in a time where people like to talk about now. It may also be more of California thing or something cuz I know when I went to Atlanta for a fam reunion, I saw plenty of men and women who looked like me and it wasn't a big deal. It's just a big deal in Cali. And a lot of whites can't handle the fact that you just could be more attractive than them unless you have some white in you some where. Their so VAIN.

Much love,
Desert Storm

No I have not read that book but will look into it.


Afew years ago I started reading a book on the life of Jessie Redmond FAUSET. Dont remember the title but I think it was "There is Confusion". The more I researched her I found that she wrote a series of articles opposing the writer T.S. Stribling on the life of Black folks in the deep South. Stribling was related to the white folks who took my ancestors from South Carolina into Mississippi. The more I read the viewpoints of these two writers it took me into the area of reading various slave narratives and when I combined that with my family history project, and came across the narrative of another ancestor, Peter Still, it really opened my eyes up to how complex sets of relationships developed in most areas of the deep south.

Yesterday, I downloaded a genealogy search program and looked deeper into my "Caraby" line from Louisiana. I found something that I had been looking for but can't really connect because my research notes are in storage. But the name "Elizabeth" has been passed down to almost every successive generation since the early 1800's on my mother's side. Well, I found the first "Elizabeth" on revord, from 1820. Doesnt say her place of origin but she was purchased for $700 and was a "Domestic". I'm interested in finding how her offspring obtained their "Free" status before the civil war. Even though the family identified as "Creole" my relatives to this day, the few that are still alive, identify as "black" regardless of how "light-skinned" some of them may be.

I looked deeper also into the "Morney" line going back to Charles de Morney, from France. Interesting character because of his trips to Africa, especially to Morocco.

I have always asserted there was some kinda connection between france and Morocco and I found it. I then looked more into the us territory at the time and Louisiana had become mostly territory under Spanish occupation/rule. So there is that spanish element there and some of my relatives fought on one or either side in the spanish/american war.

It seems to me that some of my folks fought with the Spanish against american expansionism and were granted their freedom in return. It also seems that some fought with Morocco against america in the Barbary Wars, some later migrating to Louisiana territory.

Very interesting development and also very eye opening as well.
 

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