It’s The Same Thing

Guest Post by Ayo Sekai

This war against Iraq
Under the false pretense of justice for the Iraqi people

This war
Where people are dying like worthless flies And their blood bring cries From mothers of every nation

It’s the same thing

Same as when they brought the Africans here on slave ships
The Amistad jammed packed like sardines
And our women disgraced, raped and no one hears their screams
Same as the stealing of our precious Ivory
And natural resources of Africa’s bosom
Using sword and knives and teaching us religion

It’s the same thing
And it goes way farther than that

Goes back to the Spaniards crossing the ocean
Goes back to the Cubans directing those murderers
Who committed mass genocide to the Caribbean
Same as them trying to tell us that Egypt and the river Nile
No longer belonged to Africans
That the people there are color of snow and not black like burnt coal in the sand.

It’s the same thing

Same as them telling us the black people couldn’t be smart enough to build the Pyramids
Because the very existence of it still baffles their mediocre minds
Same them stealing from us under the pretense of civilizing barbarians and industrializing third world lands
Same as them selling us in Shackles
And still they are riding on our back
Selling us crack
Killing us softly with biological warfare that they themselves implemented
And now they fear

It’s the same thing

Same as our children bellies being filled with worm
And our homeless shuffle in empty boxes on the cold concrete floor
Same as them giving us welfare cheese and rewarding us for sitting at home and having
Babies and punishing those of us, who work hard, follow their laws and believe in their democracy

This war
This lie
It’s the same thing

And we are not far removed
We are living in slavery and ignorance as this country only tells us what they think we should know
Still shackled by the media who want to keep our ears glued to blood and gore and not hear the truth

We are still slaves
And the sooner we realize that this war is not about terrorism
The better we will be
The sooner we realize that this war is not about saving the Iraqi people from lives of fear and hate
The better we will be

Because this war is about oil
It’s about power
And we are still buying into the crap they feed us that we are safe and we go about our everyday lives while they turn and enslave yet another nation
Another group of people just like they did to us
Just like they stole and infiltrated the native American Indians just for their land

This war
It’s the same thing
And we are still Slaves
Hands and bodied bounded by chains and lynched minds
Inside we are still adorned by the patches and leftover fabrics tailored to keep us ignorance

It’s the same thing
And we are not that far removed

It’s the same thing
And the Iraqi women are still women morning their loss and crying for peace

It’s the same thing
It’s the same thing
It’s the same thing

March 26, 2003

Ayo Sekai is the Chief Executive Officer at Universal Write Publications, LLC and a current Doctoral (Ph.D.) student at Howard University (Black Politics and International Affairs). Universal Write Publications (UWP) has a publishing purpose to produce social, anthological, and ethnographical scholarship that dignifies the rich histories of the culturally diverse peoples who make up our society. We want to strengthen the voices of the diaspora through pioneering works that blend the creativity through which Griots tell stories with the necessity of peer-reviewed publications. Be it pieces on cultural heritage, education, the environment, visual arts, or innovators, our books are well researched and richly illustrated, appealing to general readers as well as academic researchers. 

No Ordinary Woman

Guest Post by Ayo Sekai

One look at the way her hair cascades over her petite shoulders
And you would think it was easy
One glance at her creamy smoothes caramel skin
One sound of her resounding laugh
And you are held captive
Waiting for her to release you
Or just allow you to breathe again

Just look at her!
Look at the way she holds her head high with pride
Look at the way her eyes gleam like the ocean on a warm sunny day
Check out that smile
Even with a cry in her heart
Her beauty still radiates

Just a woman you may say
Yes!
Just a woman
She wakes every morning with worries and concerns just like you and I do
She checks her hair and makeup for flaws
And tries to find just the right thing to wear
But this is no ordinary woman
This woman is a survivor
A testament of truth and beauty
She is a vision of strength
As only God and her determination to survive remains her refuge
Over and over and over again
She has found herself with her back against the wall
And still, she walks with her head held high
Shoulders back
And hair cascading across her skin
No! She is not an ordinary woman
Bearing more than one, two or even three children
And still, she sports the body fit for a God

She has risen above hate
Stand high above pain and deception
And looks back in amazement
Wondering what’s still to come

She has been faced with more loss than most of us can bear
And still, she strives
Her accomplishments are just a drop in the bucket
To what she will attain
And she will continue to rise
Look at the way humility have hovered over her
No eager pride ready to stomp out any one’s ego
She may seem to be just like you and I
But if you look closer
You will see
She’s No Ordinary Woman

January 23, 2003

Ayo Sekai is the Chief Executive Officer at Universal Write Publications, LLC and a current Doctoral (Ph.D.) student at Howard University (Black Politics and International Affairs). Universal Write Publications (UWP) has a publishing purpose to produce social, anthological, and ethnographical scholarship that dignifies the rich histories of the culturally diverse peoples who make up our society. We want to strengthen the voices of the diaspora through pioneering works that blend the creativity through which Griots tell stories with the necessity of peer-reviewed publications. Be it pieces on cultural heritage, education, the environment, visual arts, or innovators, our books are well researched and richly illustrated, appealing to general readers as well as academic researchers.