Plain Ol' Black Girls

                 

   Plain ol' Black Girls  
  living in the Bury

  that is ah… Roxbury

 

    Playin’ freeze tag

    on Beechglenn

     round the Fort

     

      Swingin’ high

          on the old roped oak

 

                   First in line

                       for the ice cream truck

 

                           Just bein’

                              Plain ol’ Black Girls

                                double Dutchin’

                                  to our hearts content

 

                                      Wasn’t strange to see on my block

                                        plain ol’ Black Folks

                                         sittin’ on swept down porches

                                         and scrubbed cement stoops

 

                                       Watchin’ us Plain ol’ Black Girls

                                      toss pudding stones

                                     over blue chalk lines

                                  hop Scotchin’

                               to our hearts content

 

    No, it wasn’t strange to see every mornin’

          plain ol’ Black Girls and Boys

             walkin’ to school carrying

                  tin lunchboxes filled with

                      sweet potato biscuits

                        deviled eggs and lemon cake

                          books wrapped in brown paper bags

                           knapsacks overflowing with

                             hopes and dreams

                               and aspirations

 

                               Plain ol’ Black Folks say

                              it wouldn’t be strange at t’all to see

                              grownup Black Boys and Girls

                             Running for a seat in the senate

                            Flying F14’s

                          Community activatin’

                        Writin’ down our history

                      Leading the way to civil rights

 

                   Plain ol’ Black Boys and Girls

                 from the Bury

               grew up to be… Malcom X

            Community Activist, Melnea Cass

        Artist/Historian, Alan Rohan Crite
      State Rep, Gloria Fox,

   Judge, Harry J. Elam

 Journalist, Sarah Ann Shaw

  Fighter Pilot, David L. Ramsay

     First Registered Nurse, Mary Eliza Mahoney

       Jazz Percussionist, Roy Haynes

         Civil Rights Activist, Ruth Batson

            Entertainer, Sammy Davis Jr.

              Ambassador to Senegal & Greece,
               Harriet Elam Thomas

 

                  …And me,

                    Daughter, Sister, Wife, Aunt,

                      Feminist, Activist, Poet,

                       Artist, Mentor, Teacher

 

                          Just a Plain ol’ Black Girl from the Bury