NINA TAKA JINA LANGU LIRUDISHWE
(I WANT MY NAME BACK)
By Dr. Roberto Gibraltarik
I want my name back
Nwandi, Nfume, Amuchi, Njome
Matumbi, Mboya, Umoh,
Atundi, Kofi, Mahubuti
In a land ot griots families
and roots
I bask in the sun
and tall grass
remembering the Sasa and Zamani
admiring my slender body
of unblemished
ebony,
of coarse hair
and distinct phenotype
oblivious to internal intoxants,
external disease
I live off the land
and hunt as needed
for I am God's creation,
an intelligent being
advanced in technology,
social and communal
attachments,
reasonably hospitable and
unfortunately susceptible
to deceit and bondage.
Shanghaied and sold
into servitude and slavery
I was,
devoid of everything that resembled me
even my pigmentation...but I can revolt
to get my name back.
I want my name back...
I'm not Irish Fitzgerald, Fitzpatrick
Smith, Brown, Murphy, O'Riley,
Kelly, O'Neil, McDonald
I ain't English either,
Jones, Jackson, Johnson,
Williams, Washington,White,
King, Cunningham
I ain't even French,
DuPree, DuVall, Beauchamps,
LaRue, Herbert, Broussard
Bourgeois, DuBois,
Neither am I Spanish
Rodriguez, Garcia
Hernandez, Martinez, Rojas, Gomez
Marquez, Reyes, Perez, Gonzalez,
Nor am I Portuguese
Andrade, Dos Santos
Do Nascimento, Rodrigues, Mendes
Gonsalves,
Nor German, nor Dutch
Taylor, Synder, Miller
Frazier, Goldstein, Goldsmith,
Van Housen
Rosenberge, Van Buren,
Andersen, Peterson
I want my name back
Kijan, Mtombo, Nkrumah,
Ngozi, Achebe, Sovinka
I want my name back,
I want my name hack
I want my name back from
the Slave Ship Jesus
that proudly embarked in America delivering
precious Black cargo,
I want my name back
from the thieves
dressed as employers with
promises of jobs, money
and other goods
with nothing but swords, whips
and chains
under their righteous hoods,
I want my name back
from the massa
who usurped my manhood
who raped
and raped
and raped
and raped my mother
my sister
my daughter
my grandmother;
who whipped my father
my brother
my sons
til their name flowed
like noble blood into a sea of stormy
whitecaps;
I want my name
back,
I want my name back,
I want
my NAME
back
from the priest
whose demonic and sadistic
oppression
forced my bondage
for over 400 years
I want my name back
from the misinterpretations
of Christianity,
and the brain-washing
of Catholicism
I want my name back
from the rejects
who stumbled
on this land,
who starved the native man,
and labeled him
Indian;
I want my name back
from the
ignorant bastards
who scrambled my tongue
with their broken
uneducated
utterances
only to
create a language
that their so-called mother country
won't even accept;
I want my name back, I want
my name back
I want my name
back
from the
politicians
who categorize me Black
but not of Latin
origin,
who categorize me Hispanic
denying my African heritage
who categorize me
based on where he stuck his thang
for the past few hundred years,
who conveniently
categorize me
a n y w a y he wishes
to divvy up the
skinny bone of poverty;
I want my name back, I
said I want my name back
from the so-called
conservatives
who cringe at the name
Mohammed
or the word Muslim,
I want my name back
from the
John Waynes and Ronnie Ray Guns
who screw us
in the name of the law
'cause its the Amerikkkan
modus operandi
I want my name
back from
the slum landlord who
partitioned
a one bedroom apartment
into a flat
for
three families,
who added one bathroom
to the
brownstone,
two mail boxes
in front
and one on the
side
and rented
to three more families,
I want my
name back from
the corner store owner
with his
credit book
on the counter
feeding me hardship
and economic depression
every time I charge a
box of grits;
I
want
my
name
back
from the police
who recorded my pseudonym
the day I was born
preparing a place for me
and my male progeny
by the time we reach
sixteen;
I
want
my
name
back,
nina taka jina langu lirudishwe
who stole me MANDINGO,
YORUBA, IGBO, HAUSA,
ASHANTE, TUTU,
WATUSI, MAUMAU, IFE,
DAHOMEY,
BENIN, DAFUR,
I want my name back
I want my name back
I said
1 want my name back
from the uncle Toms
who say
that's the way it suppose to be,
I want my name back
from the politicians
who are on my side
then violate me, I want
my name back
from
the street corner symphony
that rocked me to sleep
and robbed me of me.
Nina taka jina
langu lirudishwe
to give to my
progeny
to witness
a sensation of freedom
pulsating their
body,
Nina taka jina
langu lirudishwe
to sow
a new seed
in the bleeding hearts
of our ancestors
Nina taka jina
langu lirudishwe
para gritar al
mundo
que hemos llegado
en armas completas
I want my name back
to shout
to the world
that we have arrived
in complete regalia
and will vow
never to subject
our culture,
nuestra cultura
our lives,
nuestra vida
our heritage
nuestra herencia
to defamation again!
I want my name back
to hear
the sound
of my ancestors
offering me as sacrifice
to the only
supreme
greater than myself.
I want my name back
to hear
the African lullaby
that has been stored
by my ancestors
waiting for me to come home
I want my name back
to wear
the sacred robe,
to walk
the precious land,
to drink
the soothing water
and taste my natural sand.
Yo quiero
que me devuelvan
a mi
mi propia identidad!
Eu quero
meu nome original!
Je veux
retrouver
mon nom identite!
I want my name back!
NINA TAKA JINA LANGU LIRUDISHWE!
http://theafrican.com/Magazine/index.html
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