Me Too... Poem by Reginald Jackson

Me too…

I, too, sing Africa in America.

I am the sweeter brother.
They send me to eat in the closet
When company comes,
But I smile
And live well
And grow bolder.

Tomorrow,
I’ll be on the frontlines
When company comes,
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me
“Live in our shadows”
quiet, complicit, glamorously tragic
then.

Remorsefully,
They’ll admit how important I am
And they will be ashamed
Of images like lawn jockeys in aunt jemima hair does
Or jim crow caricatures cakewalking in Diana Ross heels

They will hunger for me
Like water from a whites only fountain
They will ask for me
Like the sound of wars drums in rhythm with heartbeats
And I will come like morning, revolution,
Deferred dreams rescued from callous time.

I, too, am Africa in America.