Buffalo Soldier: For Those Who Know and Dare to Be

Do you know just who you are anyway?
I mean do you really know?
Well, this is who you are.
You are the builder of mighty nations.
You built civilizations like Songhay and Mali and governed empires like Kemet and Kush using only your faith, your mind and the natural resources given to you by God.
You had no guns or weapons of mass destruction.
These devices were not even created then.
You did not need to scare people into submission.
Because… you are the carrier of knowledge.
You founded and studied at great universities millennia ago.
You laid the foundation for the modern study of science and mathematics at Timbuktu.

Even philosophers like Socrates and Aristotle revere you.
They still fear you, that’s why they hunt you down. Didn’t you know?
That you are a survivor.
You survived centuries of being punished for your blessings.
You were whipped, mentally abused, stripped of your name and your identity.
They tried to break you and make you believe you were not a man,
by robbing you of your ability to protect your mothers, wives and daughters.
They never let you celebrate yourself, your great ancestors.
Even though you built their empires and celebrated their heroes.
You are a forgiver.
You vowed never to be bitter toward your oppressor even when they refused to apologize.
You fought in wars with them, cried with them when your sons didn’t come home,

believed them when they promised to redeem themselves.
Through all this you somehow managed to be a visionary.
You dreamed of a peaceful world.
You created art and music to describe your pain and danced at the thought of the joy to come.
You are a warrior.
You are fighting to reclaim your families and return to your former glories.
And you will because you know who you are.
You are a builder, a carrier, a survivor, a visionary, a warrior.
You are loved.