FORTY ACRES AND A MULE E. Sharon Gomillion illustrated by Casey Czarnik (c) E. Sharon Gomillion, 1973 2,000 copies of this edition designed, printed and distributed by DIANA PRESS, 12 West 25th St., Baltimore, Maryland 21218. Calculate 40 ACRES + 1 MULE X 400 YEARS = BITTERNESS 4 Wake Up! Brothers And Sisters Are you out there, trying to cop a bag grab some scag, begging for a drag Wake up! Brothers and Sisters Wake up! Are you looking for the works, spike, cause you're a hype Cause you gotta stay blind in order to sooth your mind Wake up! Brothers and Sisters Wake up! Don't you see what the "Man" is doing Just another one of his "plots" brewing Stand up! Brothers and Sisters Stand up! 5 The Misery Of Being Existence to me, has always been trying to survive, to live. . . from within Doing all that nature implies never doing that on which society frowns, Always portraying earth's positiveness . . . displaying myself, someone's, everyone's image of me by necessity, courtesy first, ne'er knowingly possessing, curt, terse Showing concern, to those who need forever a shoulder, a heart that bleeds The misery of being is trying to be just naturally, positively human just me solely from without and within 6 Illustration Soul Food Goes Elite Hammocks and collard greens On white folks tables you ain't never seen Cornbread, pigtails, even chitterlins Never could they eat these; they weren't considered quite a fitting cuisine Rice and redeye gravy Blackeye peas Fatback, pigfeet, biscuit none of these Now all of a sudden, out of curiosity Soul Food! Soul Food! so much publicity Even the rich, are beginning to slip and try, Potato salad, porkchops, even 'tatoe pie 8 Am I Not A Human Being? Knowledge of life, its myriad complexities untapped, untouched by man, problems existing in untold form, content . . . unsolved Invitation, participation needed by all man, belief and disbelief status time, relentless, an element of proving problems, solutions . . . People common concern . . . another man's feeling I am, a human being, pursuing life, all life hungrily acceptance of people things for themselves . . . unvoiced their deeds and misdeeds 9 Illustration The Why's Of The Black Child Pig feet, chicken ham and rice They're okay They're alright Back alley playgrounds Dirty streets and gray towns Old clothes and hand-me-downs Old books and schools that are shut down Struggling to learn things Trying with all our might Thinking how hard it is Oh! why can't I be white? 11 The Promise I don't want to be a doo-wah, hey baby, what's happening sister Running a slick game on nobody or trying to tip-off somebody for their bread I just want that which is mine (forty acres and a mule) and leave the rest to the brothers and sisters trying to get theirs 12 Illustration Dem Black Executives Look at you so you finally made it Your voice has changed you talk PROPER now oops, I mean correct No more dems and doos now it's them and those No more out of date clothes you've changed your mode You look down your nose on my shabby clothes and even on my style You raise a fist and force a smile Dem Black Executives You've even changed your dating mate no sister for you Only a blond will do Dem Black Executives 14 Illustration Illustration Genocide is When you party so hearty then kill-off your brother or somebody That's Genocide Genocide is ripping-off a sister for her welfare bread to support your JONES and to keep you out of jail That's Genocide Genocide is those Saturday night affairs--when everybody's out there doing it and nobody cares That's Genocide 17 Black Woman Black woman Black woman Black woman of mine Step right up Step right up in time Strut your stuff, be real proud Lift your head to the sky Forgotten Black Woman Lost in time, but not in mind 18 Stand! Stand up Nigger, get on your feet are you gonna let that smack turn you into a freak Don't let that monkey get you down ride your back, till you're on the ground Nose dripping, or on the nod, speedfreak, snorting, even chipping can turn you into some heavy dipping Stand I say, get yourself straighten-out Kick the habit That's what living is all about 19 Illustration Straw Bosses Y'all know who I'm talking 'bout They ain't quite at the top and they ain't quite at the bottom They's the one's who the man send in to keep an eye on us niggers and to make sho we don't do no messing' up, and of cose one of our own can relate to us lower niggers, but what the straw bosses should remember is that a straw falls fast, especially when unravelled 21 He Ain't My Idol There he is Slick, sly, bad Go 'head man Smooth old dude so pretty, he even run cute Walk is so down Clothes so heavy Habit is so BIG Can you dig? 22 Mistakes Mistakes are made by those in err Obliteration is rendered by those who care Remember, mistakes are of an innate gender Admitting one has made a mistake is grandeur, splendor 23 Illustration On The Church Now I ain't got nothing against the church I've only spent half my life there And I've come to one conclusion, You can stay home and get the same results if there are any results to be gotten 25 Be Cool Brother Be cool you say, cause you've made it some kind of way Don't burn, don't protest you'll get yours, the very best Lay dead my man, you say as you polish your TR-4 hang-in there baby, they'll give you a little more Don't get up-tight brother, you say, as you drive downtown to pick up your check from you job paying seventy-five bills a day 26 Before Very Long Though battles are eating an end, fires still exist, heartaches and pain the masquerade is still plain scars of discontent and protest unhealed by times, weariness redefined fighting for belief and truth granted from high, proof unbelievable proof, proven from beyond time before spring, time will tell what greatness, sorrow, tragedies unfold wars have solved, tragedy bestowed remains after yesterdays and tomorrows 27