Endangered Species

Each day we die - One less black man standing on this earth. A surrounding of pain and sorrow, constant battles and struggles leave us fighting just long enough to survive. Each passing second brings closer the dark cloud that strips us of the vision to rise above the accomplishments of our ancestors. The cold rain hits us like stones as we become the prey of a silent predator, bent on our annihilation. It is a gruesome sight to see my brothers pulled into its jaws.

Once a great united people, now at odds with each other; soon to face ruin if things don’t change for the better. We are faced with a disease so large, that it misleads the majority of us with false hopes. We are pawns for the sinister as we kill and steal for what truly doesn’t matter like sneakers and gold chains and twenty five dollar watches… cars, sports utility vehicles and money made out of paper that burns like everything else. Our lives are filled with hate, lies and jealousy fueled by a consumer manipulated materialistic mentality.

We have taken on the ways of our oppressors.

Everyday we fight lies that scream our inherent worthlessness, destroying our vision so we cease to exist. We struggle to maintain our sanity, as confusion sets in. Life’s pressure crushes us in a vice of fear, stress and hate, which eat away at our body’s insides… At every turn we must prove ourselves by dodging the projectiles of the Enemy. How can we stand the tests if we don’t know why we are standing? How do we get out of this struggle and take the struggle out of us?

The predator attacks us on two separate plains. We are destroyed by removal and by seclusion. With us gone, who will raise our children? Who will love and provide for our wives? With us unable to face our responsibilities, who will guide our brothers and sisters? Who will care for our mothers and fathers? Our children come in from the war zone, we call school and the streets, only to find negative, male role models present – if any role models are present at all. But even for those of us who are physically there, many are unable or maybe even unwilling to share and supply love and guidance because we are too busy fighting our own demons within…

Our women watch in horror as their men are shot down: one by one facing mental and physical incarceration. Yes, some of us act like wild animals, and of course we are all thrown into the same proverbial basket like bad apples. Slowly, we give into the no win situation with a silent, uncontrollable rage; bowing down to lust and folding under the pressure of self-pity.

All may be against my people to survive and even thrive in victory, but I am proud of who I am and the color of my skin. Yesterday may be darkness, but I must look up to Christ for a brighter tomorrow and then show others what I see. It is He who is our salvation and our purpose.

The predator seeks to destroy us with ignorance and violence, fear, lies and manipulation. This fallen society devours with false security. Yet, we will rise high into the air; supporting one another; defying the schemes which seek to keep us silent. No longer a prey, but solely victorious. An endangers species no more…

The Black Man.

From the book: Transition: Breaking Through the Barriers, Pg. 17
Written by Allen Paul Weaver III
Published by: IUniverse June 2006