OF MAMMIES AND PICKENENNIES: HOW TO EMBRACE A DIFFICULT PAST!

MAMMIES AND PICKENENNIES!

I can’t make you love yourself,

I can’t make you cherish your history,

I can’t, no indeed I can’t

Keep you from seeing mammies and pickenennies,

Instead of your own hard-fought history,

I can’t make you embrace the enslavement of your ancestors,

I can’t, no indeed I can’t,

I can’t make you cherish the humble lifestyle they endured,

No more than I can make you stop hating yourself,

I can’t, no indeed I can’t,

I can’t make you understand,

How to celebrate your history, its every nuance now,

If you choose to erase it in your shame,

I can’t participate in your self-hatred game,

I can’t, no indeed I can’t,

When your history is erased you will not have a name,

Your pathway will be lost, and others will claim,

The history you failed to love,

Because you saw mammies and pickenennies,

Instead of you,

Brotha I can’t, no indeed I can’t,

Nor do I have any hope for you,

you've sold your legacy down the river,

there's nothing more that I can do

I can't, I certainly can't

give another thought to your treachery,

or to you...

FIN

BY BIGDADDY BLUES

A GALLERY OF RELATED IMAGES