Poem and presentation by Laetitia Dossou

FOR MY PEOPLE

For my people from the sand dunes of the

Sahara to the Cape of Good Hope;

For my people from the coast of Senegal to the

Horn of Africa;

For my people who were enslaved for

centuries;

For my people who toiled under the

scorching sun;For my people whose knees were humbly

bent;For my people whose feet are

cracked and hands rough;

For my people who endured

cruelty;

For my people who paraded

naked with whip marks on their

bodies;

For the women who bore the fruits of their wombs in

darkness;For the men

shackled and tied down as the

phantom of our past mocked us;For the boys and girls who were denied life and died brutally;

For my people who were deceived;For my people trying to create

their own dreams;For my people

suffering to find themselves in this

harsh world;

For my brothers and sisters of generations past, present, and

future;For my people so close to their

dreams yet so far away;

May we rise!

May a new page be turned in our history!

May we stand united

and may our generation be a peaceful, forgiving

one!

May this resound in our

ears!

This is for

my people.

Sources • http://www.joaoleitaofoto.com/images/20081227100441_woman

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AATI/NTMrrCjMYaM/s400/shackled.jpg• http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade/collection/large/NW0

301.JPG• http://bbs.chinadaily.com.cn/attachments/month_0612/two-

hands_lgct0YHBmAD5.jpg• http://crawfurd.dk/illu/weekly/mamaafrica.jpg• http://www.starstore.com/acatalog/Africa_tribal-l.jpg• http://www.panhala.net/Archive/The_Weighing.jpg• http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/sciences/earthscience/

Geology/Deserts/Deserts/Desertification/Introduction/drought.gif• http://api.ning.com/files/73Hf2Pv*49LCqHdrPQU83hsmufGcL-

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• http://www.laprogressive.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/sad-black-woman.gif

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