Celebrate the Juneteenth holiday or Black History Month by reading a beautiful Juneteenth poem written by PATTERN poet Amena Brown to commemorate the United States emancipation of enslaved people.
Juneteenth
We carry liberation in our cheekbones
We fold the stories of our ancestors
Into song
Into science
Into fashion
Into food
Into innovation
We follow the recipe in the legacy of our people
And it is there we nourish ourselves
We gather
Here
Together
To bring ourselves to a table where love is always served
Let’s come home to each other
We are our own harvest
We are our own healing place
We gather
Here
Together
To heal
To remind ourselves of a freedom song
To sing for those who may not feel like singing
To sing for those who are no longer here to sing
To honor the freedom we have
And fight for the freedom we have yet to see
We rest and we protest
We pick beans and pop gum
We pontificate
We fix grandma a plate
Our joy is our resistance
Our beauty is our glory
Our courage is our resilience
Our freedom is written in the follicles of our hair
In each other
We have strength for the journey
- Amena Brown, @ amenabee
7 comments
Amena, thank you for the beautiful, fortifying poem that will help us to celebrate our ancestors. Because of their strength, determination and most of all Faith in God we now have a national holiday in celebration of the sacrifices of our ancestors! Glory to God!
Awesome poem