Redemption: a poem by Alex Ojo
Friday, 30 October 2020
Please take a moment to take in this powerful poem by Alex Ojo, a student in the School of Law.
In 1833 the slavery abolition act was passed in the United Kingdom
In theory, slavery became a thing of the past
In theory, black people were seen as equal
In theory, there was no more divide
In theory, racism had ended
In theory, In theory, in theory, in theory
In theory is what should be but should, doesn't release the chains from our necks and shackles from our feet
In fact, 186 years later, slavery is still kicking and whipping
Just because I'm not openly called nigger or boy or just because my future isn't openly in the hands of the man doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
You see just because you don't kill cattle inhumanly anymore, doesn't mean you don't kill them
Instead you just developed a more socially acceptable means to reach the same end
I mean 186 years ago you told us what we could and couldn't wear, enforcing it with violence,
Now you tell our children what hair they can and can't have enforcing it with suspensions
186 years ago you would make us feel alien by roasting our skin and judging our features
Now you just stare as I simply walk down the street as if I'm cruising in a UFO
186 years ago you would exert force over us and justified it by saying you were superior
Now you do the same only justify it with the use of the PCEA of 1984
186 years ago, you would hold our mouths and condemn our voices
Now you tell us to stop playing the race card whenever we speak out about feeling victimized
In fact, 186 years later, racism is still ignorantly breathing
The fact that I can't count on my fingers the amount of times my skin has been the target of another pistol tongue speaks volumes
If I showed you my body you'd find so many bullet holes, you could probably play whack a monkey
A painful shot came when I realised that the game we call beautiful still has many ugly heads
I mean if you've never been told to go back to where you came from then stand up
If your hair has never been stroked like a dog by someone who claims to be curious then stand up
If you have never walked into a room and felt the stares on your skin like the radiant sun beaming down on a hot day then stand up
You see the ones standing are probably used to this position of looking down on us seated
Notice how I have not singled out any race or ethnicity because racism run deeper than the physical
It is a mindset that needs to die. A mindset that needs to be captured, bound and thrown on a ship that sails to it runs out of fuel and sinks
Because it is upsetting how all the in theories are still fantasy, yet the in facts are still reality
It is time for black people to be judged by the content of their character, not the colour of their skin
Time for us to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery
The definition of redemption is the action of being saved from sin, error or evil
So we cry out for redemption from the plantation of today's society
For we escaped the master's field only to end up in his grandkid's garden enslaved by the fruit it bears.
We thought we were one
We thought we were safe
We thought we were equal
We thought we were free, till we tried run.
Alex Ojo is a student in the School of Law. You can watch Alex perform Redemption in the video below:
You can also access the video directly on Microsoft Streams, where you can also watch Alex perform his poem True Pain. You may need to enter your University log-in to view the videos.
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