35 best Black History Month poems to celebrate your heritage in 2024

35 best Black History Month poems to celebrate your heritage in 2024

Best known as Black History Month, February has been a distinct month since the 1970s to celebrate all things black because of mind blowing historical events. In light of this, Black History poems for kids are part of what is held in high esteem when celebrating the season.

easy short black history poems
Black History Month poems. Photo: pexels.com, @Gotta Be Worth It
Source: UGC

What does Black History stand for? It is a time when African-Americans celebrate and reflect on what their past heroes did for them. During this period, they rejoice, thank, and appreciate leaders who fought for them and gave them hope, freedom, and faith in themselves.

35 best Black History Month poems

To add colours to the celebration of Black History Month, black poets have penned some beautiful lines worth appreciating. Some of the best Black History poems by African poets shared below are inspiring and help us understand what these heroes have done.

Inspirational poems for black youth

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Black History Month is celebrated in diverse manners, including promoting each other's business, looking out for each other, and advocating for fairness and unity.

However, youth who may not be able to participate in those aforementioned things can celebrate too by learning poems and skits for Black History Month. Check out these inspirational poems for black youth and kids.

1. The Pool Players, Seven At The Golden Shovel - Gwendolyn Brooks

We real cool.

We left school.

We lurk late.

We strike straight.

We sing sin.

We thing gin.

We jazz June.

We die soon.

2. Won't You Celebrate With Me - Lucille Clifton

Black History Month poems
Black History Month poems. Photo: canva.com (modified by author)
Source: UGC

Won't you celebrate with me

what I have shaped into

a kind of life? I had no model.

born in Babylon

both nonwhite and woman

what did I see to be except myself?

I made it up

here on this bridge between

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starshine and clay,

my one hand holding tight

my other hand; come celebrate

with me that every day

something has tried to kill me

and has failed.

3. Tending - Elizabeth Alexander

In the pull-out bed with my brother

in my grandfather's Riverton apartment

my knees and ankles throbbed from growing,

pulsing so hard they kept me awake —

or was it the Metro North train cars

flying past the apartment, rocking the walls,

or was it the sound of the apartment's front doors

as heavy as prison doors clanging shut?

Was the Black Nation whispering to me

from the Jet magazines stacked on the floor, or

was it my brother's unfamiliar ions

vibrating, humming in his easeful sleep?

Tomorrow, as always, Grandfather will rise

to the Spanish-Town crow deep in his head

and perform his usual ablutions,

and prepare the apartment for the day,

and peel fruit for us, and prepare a hot meal

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that can take us anywhere and onward.

Did sleep elude me because I could feel

the heft of unuttered love in his tending

our small bodies love a silent, mammoth thing

that overwhelmed me and kept me awake

as my growing bones did, growing larger

than anything else, I would know?

4. Still I Rise - Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still, I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries?

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Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin' in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise?

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise

Up from a past that's rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear, I rise

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

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I rise

I rise

I rise.

5. The Tradition - Jericho Brown

black poetry
Black poetry. Photo: canva.com (modified by author)
Source: UGC

Aster. Nasturtium. Delphinium. We thought

Fingers in the dirt meant it was our dirt, learning

Names in heat, in elements classical

Philosophers said it could change us. Star Gazer.

Foxglove. Summer seemed to bloom against the will

Of the sun, which news reports claimed flamed hotter

On this planet, than, when our dead fathers

Wiped sweat from their necks. Cosmos. Baby's Breath.

Men like my brothers and me filmed what we

Planted for proof, we existed before

Too late, sped the video to see blossoms

Brought in seconds, the colours you expect in poems

Where the world ends, everything cut down.

John Crawford. Eric Garner. Mike Brown.

6. I Had A Dream - Curtiss L. Hayes

I had a dream

gathered up steam

and then just kept right on rolling

That black and white

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no longer did fight

but unity both were extolling

I had a dream

built self-esteem

as I was bold and courageous

I made black and white

walk toward the light

and nobody thought it outrageous

I had a dream

making me deem

giving my life to the cause, providing

Both black and white

scale the height

And climb over the wall that's dividing

I had a dream

strong as a beam

sturdy and steady as can be

Saw black and white

holding on tight

To the vision that U.S. does mean we

I had a dream

we were a team

Looking out for one or the other

Black and white

with all their might

helping and loving one another

I had a dream

made it seem

I should put what I dreamt in a letter

For black and white

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did what was right

things couldn't be any better

I had a dream

cookies and cream

were on the menu that day

Because black and white

are precious in his sight

and they will be together someday

7. Long Enough - Curtiss L. Hayes

I've been black long enough.

Long enough to know about the middle passage

Men, women, children, regardless of age

Stuffed in a ship, like animals in a cage

Long enough to know about slavery

And the white man's feeling of mastery

Causing human beings a lifetime of misery

Long enough to know about Jim Crow

The unjust laws instituted, blow after blow

Crushing the spirit of those they refused to know

Long enough to know about lynchings

The 'strange fruit' hanging from trees

After enduring a myriad of indignities

I've been black long enough.

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Long enough to see separate but 'un'equal classrooms

Schools with computers, others with, maybe, brooms

Leading inevitably to unequal boardrooms

inspirational poems for black youth
Inspirational poems for black youth. Photo: canva.com (modified by author)
Source: UGC

Long enough to see the Civil Rights movement

Its effect on America barely a dent

Many courageous freedom fighters came and went

Long enough to see housing inequality

Driving past neighbourhoods with no diversity

Wondering will we ever have inclusivity

Long enough to see the police forget

Those they are sworn to serve and protect

Instead, they put a knee on their neck

I've been black long enough

Long enough to experience racial discrimination

I have felt it on more than one occasion

One time as a child on a family vacation

I was ten when I jumped into the motel pool

The white folks scattered; (was I made of stool?)

And glared at me as if I was the fool

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Or when our family moved into a neighbourhood

Only to watch signs pop up on placard and wood

'For Sale' signs to get the hell out of the hood

The confederate flag flew at my oldest son's school

So what are concerned parents to do?

We dialogued a resolution until all parties were cool

I've been black long enough.

Hopeful or hopeless? Probably more of the latter

POTUS can't even say the words' Black Lives Matter'

To some I may sound like a man full of blather

I'm not, it's just that I've been black long enough

To know that enough is enough.

Easy short black history poems

Black History Month is a global occasion to celebrate black culture and the contributions of black leaders to society. Below are short black poetry that will inspire you.

8. Dreams - Langston Hughes

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Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

9. Dirt - Kwame Dames

We who gave, owned nothing,

learned the value of dirt, how

a man or a woman can stand

among the unruly growth,

look far into its limits,

a place of stone and entanglements,

and suddenly understand

the meaning of a name, a deed,

a currency of personhood.

Here, where we have laboured

for another man's gain, if it is fine

to own dirt and stone, it is

fine to have a plot where

a body may be planted to rot.

We who have built only

that which others have owned

learn the ritual of trees,

the rites of fruit picked

and eaten, the pleasures

of ownership. We who

have fled with sword

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at our backs know the things

they have stolen from us, and we

will walk naked and filthy

into the open field knowing

only that this piece of dirt,

this expanse of nothing,

is the earnest of our faith

in the idea of tomorrow.

We will sell our bones

for a piece of dirt,

we will build new tribes

and plant new seeds

and bury our bones in our dirt.

10. A Place In The Country - Toi Derricotte

easy short black history poems
Easy short black history poems. Photo: canva.com (modified by author)
Source: UGC

We like the houses here.

We circle the lake turning

into dark cleavages, dense-packed gleamings.

We could live here, we say.

We're smiling, but thinking

of the houses at the last resort:

The real estate agent looked surprised

when she saw Bruce's face; then flipped

quickly through the glossy pictures—

I'm sure you won't like this one;

I can tell it's not your kind.

Our house in Essex Fells

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took a year to sell and sold

to a black family. A friend explained,

once a house is owned

by black people, they're the only ones

they'll show it to. Do we want to live

some place with a view

overlooking the politics?

When we pass

an exit named " Black Mountain,"

Bruce smiles and jerks the wheel

as if we almost missed our turn.

Why must everything we want

come by stealth? Why is every road

in this bright country furnished

with its history of hatred? Yet

we keep smiling, driven

by a desire beyond the logic

of if we can afford it,

and whether we would love

or hate it if we did buy.

11. Mother To Son - Langston Hughes

Well, son, I'll tell you:

Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

It's had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

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And places with no carpet on the floor-

Bare.

But all the time

I'se been a-climbin' on,

And reachin' landin's,

And turnin' corners,

And sometimes goin' in the dark

Where there ain't been no light.

So, boy, don't you turn back.

Don't you set down on the steps.

'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.

Don't you fall now-

For I'se still goin', honey,

I'se still climbin',

And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

12. A Small Needful Fact - Ross Gay

Is that Eric Garner worked

for some time for the Parks and Rec.

Horticultural Department, which means,

perhaps, that with his very large hands,

perhaps, in all likelihood,

he put gently into the earth

some plants which, most likely,

some of them, in all likelihood,

continue to grow, continue

to do what such plants do, like house

and feed small and necessary creatures,

like being pleasant to touch and smell,

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like converting sunlight

into food, like making it easier

for us to breathe.

13. Knoxville, Tennessee - Nikki Giovanni

I always like summer

best

you can eat fresh corn

from daddy's garden

and okra

and greens

and cabbage

and lots of

barbecue

and buttermilk

and homemade ice-cream

at the church picnic

and listen to

gospel music

outside

at the church

homecoming

and go to the mountains with

your grandmother

and go barefooted

and be warm

all the time

not only when you go to bed

and sleep

14. Barbarism - Terrance Haynes

black history month poems
Black History Month poems. Photo: canva.com (modified by author)
Source: UGC

It was light and lusterless and somehow luckless,

The hair I cut from the head of my father-in-law,

It was pepper-blanched and wind-scuffed, thin

As a blown bulb's filament, it stuck to the teeth

Of my clippers like a dark language, the static

Covering his mind stuck to my fingers, it mingled

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In halfhearted tufts with the dust. Because

Every barber's got a gift for mind reading in his touch,

I could hear what he would not say. He'd sworn

To never let his hair be cut again after his daughter

Passed away. I told him how my own boy,

His grandchild, weeps when my clippers bite

Behind his ear, but I could not say how

The blood there tastes. I almost showed him

How I bow my own head to the razor in my hands,

How a mirror is used to taper the nape.

Science and religion come to the same conclusion:

Someday all the hair on the body will fall away.

I'm certain he will only call on me for a few more years,

The crown of his head is already smoother

Than any part of his face. It shines like the light

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In tiny bulbs of sweat before the sweat evaporates.

Poems for black sons

Learning and mastering several Black History poems give you a broader view of who you are and what you can become. Below are inspiring poems about being black and proud you can learn from.

15. Stand Up - Jessica Zannini

Stand up!

Let's make a difference

Stand up!

Let's fight resistance

Violence won't fit

We've got to resist

Protest and sit

Join hands to assist

Stand up!

Let's fix the wrong

And make us strong

16. His Dream Lives On - Langston Hughes

Today is a day we all sing

In honour of Martin Luther King

Wherever people fight to be free

His name is remembered with dignity

When black people weren't treated right

He stood strong to lead the fight

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He fought with love, not guns or darts

He changed people's minds and their hearts

But some people didn't like his words

He was taken away to a better world

Yet his dream lives on, that all can be free

When we knock down the walls between you and me

17. Go To The Back Rosa Parks - Rita Dove

Go to the back of the bus, Rosa Parks

Go to the back and stay

" No, I won't, I think that's unfair

And I'm just too tired today

But everyone knows the rules, Rosa Parks

Everyone knows if you're black

You can't eat at white restaurants

And on busses, you sit in the back

So now it is time to move, Rosa Parks

" No, I'm not moving at all

I've got a voice and I'm going to use it

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And thousands will hear the call

" We are coming to sit with you, Rosa Parks"

People black and white did say

" We're coming to change America

And bring equality here to stay!

18. Black History Month - Nikki Giovanni

If Black History Month is not

Viable, then wind does not

Carry the seeds and drop them

On fertile ground

Rain does not

Dampen the land

And encourage the seeds to root

Sun does not warm the earth

And kiss the seedlings

And tell them plain:

You're As Good as Anybody else

You have got a place here, too.

19. I Am Accused Of Tending To The Past - Lucille Clinton

inspirational poems for black youth
Inspirational poems for black youth. Photo: canva.com (modified by author)
Source: UGC

I am accused of tending to the past

As if I made it

As if I sculpted it

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With my own hands. I did not

This past was waiting for me

When I came

A monstrous unnamed baby

And I with my mother's itch

Took it to breast and named it History.

She is more human now

Learning languages every day,

Remembering faces, names and dates

When she is strong enough to travel

On her own, beware, she will

20. I Am The Black Child - Mychal Wynn

I am special, ridicule cannot sway me

I am strong, obstacles cannot stop me

I hold my head high, proudly proclaiming my uniqueness

I am proud of my culture and my heritage

I am confident that I can achieve my every goal

I am becoming all that I can be

I am the black child, I am the child of God

21. I, Too - Langston Hughes

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Tomorrow,

I'll be at the table

When company comes

Nobody'll dare

Say to me,

' Eat in the kitchen,'

Then.

Besides,

They'll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed

I, too, am America.

22. Freedom Walk - Charlise F

Freedom:

They say we'll never get it

I believe when people hear

The coloured side of the story -" Injustice anywhere is an insult to justice everywhere."

They chant and throw objects

But I'm not giving up

I feel like I could walk

All night for freedom. Cops yell and block the roads and order people to go back.

Group of Caucasians chants in our faces

And hold up signs but all I can say is

" Keep walking."

23. Being Black - Unknown author

The colour of my skin is black

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So my life seems to be under attack

All the anger of hatred of people is put into me

If only people would realise and see

That I'm no different from you, that stands before me

You tell me that I'm different and that I don't belong here

You tell me that your only wish is that I'd completely disappear

But there are one of two people that know the truth

Which is the fact that I am just another black

Trying to survive in a world of fear

Just because my family don't originate from here.

24. Democracy - Langston Hughes

Democracy will not come

Today, this year

Nor ever

Through compromise and fear.

I have as much right

As the other fellow has

To stand

On my two feet

And own the land.

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I tire so of hearing people say,

Let things take their course.

Tomorrow is another day.

I do not need freedom when I'm dead

I cannot live on tomorrow's bread

Black History Month poems for church

Black History Month is a time to commemorate the lives and achievements of all African Americans. It is also a moment to reflect on Christianity, the church, and faith. Here are some Christian poetry for Black History Month.

25. 16th Street Baptist Church Speaks - Michael Christopher

I was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1911, on 16th Street.

By born, I mean they finish my construction.

I was erected as an edifice to the Almighty

A place the worship.

A rally point for justice fighters

And a war room for the commanders of the cause.

I can name-drop, but that we rude:

Martin Luther King, Ralph David Abernathy.

Thousands of people release millions of

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prayers beneath my roof.

black history month poems for church
Black History Month poems for church. Photo: canva.com (modified by author)
Source: UGC

I stood witness to hopes, dreams, marriages and baptisms.

But of all the dignitaries of grace, my pues,

The most important, the most precious were Denise, Addy Mae, Carolyn and Cynthia.

Those 4 girls were visiting me for Sunday school or something to like.

There was a lot of turmoil in the old days.

I could tell because of all the comings and goings and whatnot.

Some fuss about integration.

Even our illustrious Governor, George Wallace, has something to say about the issues of the day.

Let me see, I think what he said was: 'to stop integration, Alabama

needed a few first-class funerals.'

Shortly after, a white gentleman place a package under my steps.

At the time, I was over 50 years old, and I had grown to know what the faces of men meant.

Each one told a story or revealed his heart.

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I knew that was no gift set before me.

I could feel the spirit of the lord shutter with grief and I knew I had to do something, for those four little girls are still within me.

Girls! Girls, you gotta get! Get on from around here!

But maybe, if my steeple wasn't just a tower,

I could do more than babble.

I tried so hard.

I yelled with everything I had:

Girls! Girls, you gotta get-get on home now!

But all they can hear was me moan and creek like I was settling into my foundation.

I was no longer like the servant Peter, I could not be their rock.

In that split second of eternity, I tried to contain the blast.

I held back the wave of Satan's Hellfire like I held on every prayer whispered in my walls.

I use all my strength to stop the embers.

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I refused the shards.

I stop the splitters.

I bound every brick.

I subdued the morter.

I stood in the gap in the twinkling of an eye,

My god needed to call them home.

And in that moment of forever, they felt the love of my lord!

But even eternity must end.

I could not hold back the blast forever, and I realized all I could do was blanket their bodies in what was left of me.

Swallow them in my destruction.

Tuck them in with my dust.

I won't name the white supremacist who was convicted of this horrific crime,

But Denise Mcnair, Addy Mae Collins, Carole Roberston

and Cynthia Wesley transfigured into a spark,

That fan the plains of freedom!

And I,

I had the honour,

I had the….

I am so sorry that I could not save you.

26. We'll Get Through This - Joanna Fuchs

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Lord, our troubles

Are so great,

We don't know what to do;

The price for our

Iniquity

Is finally coming due.

The world is crumbling

All about;

No safe place can be found.

Right is wrong,

Wrong is right;

The change is quite profound.

Lord, we need

Your guiding light

To lead us out of here;

We'll focus on

Your Word, and prayer,

To take away our fear.

Temptations of

This dying world

We'll rule out and let go;

Give our burdens

All to you,

Shed all worldly woe.

That's how we'll

Get through this, Lord,

Fixed on heaven above,

Assured of your

protection, help,

And everlasting love.

27. A Perfect Christian - Joanna Fuchs

black history month poems for church
Black history month poems for church. Photo: canva.com (modified by author)
Source: UGC

You could count on a perfect Christian

To always be gentle and humble,

To be immune to sin,

And never, ever stumble.

He'd study and remember

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All of God's commands;

He'd be trustworthy, moral and honest;

You'd know just where he stands.

With others, she'd be in harmony;

She'd never lose her cool;

Forgiving and forgetting,

Following the Golden Rule.

He'd surrender his life to God,

Full of joy and peace,

Free of stress and worry…

Perfect, pure release.

She'd lift up everyone,

Full of sweet compassion,

Free of worldly wants,

Ignoring worldly fashion.

But we can't ever be perfect,

So we always need to pray

For the strength to do our best

To love God and obey.

28. Troubles That Never Came - David V. Bush

The bridges that I've often crossed

Before they came in sight,

Have been of many, many kinds;

Been grey, or black, or white.

I fancied many brutish ones,

And many could not name;

I've had my many troubles, but

The worst ones never came!

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When squirrels get their nuts for food.

They gather for a year,

And do not worry 'bout the next,

For that they have no fear,

But man is not content today,

He lives with troubled aim;

A-thinking 'bout the troubles past.

And those which never came!

Some people build their mounts of care

Of many sorts and kind.

Which like the bridges that they build.

Are mostly in their mind.

Though sun's ablaze and sky is clear,

They think of lightning's flame.

They had their many troubles, but

The worst ones never came!

Now God is in the universe.

The birds and squirrels know,

They worry not, nor do they fret.

For what we reap we sow,

If we sow deeds they'll bear their fruit.

For God will hear our claim;

If we trust Him then we can say.

The worst ones never came!

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Black women's poetry

Black History Month allows everyone to celebrate, commemorate, and honour black ancestry and culture. Here are some touching poems to help you study the rich legacy of black poetry.

29. Life Doesn't Frighten Me - Maya Angelou

Shadows on the wall

Noises down the hall

Life doesn't frighten me at all

Bad dogs barking loud

Big ghosts in a cloud

Life doesn't frighten me at all

Mean old Mother Goose

Lions on the loose

They don't frighten me at all

Dragons breathing flame

On my counterpane

That doesn't frighten me at all.

I go boo

Make them shoo

I make fun

Way they run

I won't cry

So they fly

I just smile

They go wild

Life doesn't frighten me at all.

Tough guys fight

All alone at night

Life doesn't frighten me at all.

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Panthers in the park

Strangers in the dark

No, they don't frighten me at all.

That new classroom where

Boys all pull my hair

(Kissy little girls

With their hair in curls)

They don't frighten me at all.

Don't show me frogs and snakes

And listen for my scream,

If I'm afraid at all

It's only in my dreams.

I've got a magic charm

That I keep up my sleeve

I can walk the ocean floor

And never have to breathe.

Life doesn't frighten me at all

Not at all

Not at all.

Life doesn't frighten me at all.

30. A Place in the Country - Toi Derricotte

Black History Month poems
Black women's poetry. Photo: canva.com (modified by author)
Source: UGC

We like the houses here.

We circle the lake turning

into dark cleavages, dense-packed gleamings.

We could live here, we say.

We're smiling, but thinking

of the houses at the last resort:

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The real estate agent looked surprised

when she saw Bruce's face; then flipped

quickly through the glossy pictures—

I'm sure you won't like this one;

I can tell it's not your kind.

Our house in Essex Fells

took a year to sell and sold

to a black family. A friend explained,

once a house is owned

by black people, they're the only ones

they'll show it to. Do we want to live

some place with a view

overlooking the politics?

When we pass

an exit named "Black Mountain,"

Bruce smiles and jerks the wheel

as if we almost missed our turn.

Why must everything we want

come by stealth? Why is every road

in this bright country furnished

with its history of hatred?

Yet we keep smiling, driven

by a desire beyond the logic

of if we can afford it,

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31. Phenomenal Woman - Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.

I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size

But when I start to tell them,

They think I'm telling lies.

I say,

It's in the reach of my arms

The span of my hips,

The stride of my step,

The curl of my lips.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please,

And to a man,

The fellows stand or

Fall down on their knees.

Then they swarm around me,

A hive of honey bees.

I say,

It's the fire in my eyes,

And the flash of my teeth,

The swing in my waist,

And the joy in my feet.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

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Men themselves have wondered

What they see in me.

They try so much

But they can't touch

My inner mystery.

When I try to show them

They say they still can't see.

I say,

It's in the arch of my back,

The sun of my smile,

The ride of my breasts,

The grace of my style.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

Now you understand

Just why my head's not bowed.

I don't shout or jump about

Or have to talk real loud.

When you see me passing

It ought to make you proud.

I say,

It's in the click of my heels,

The bend of my hair,

the palm of my hand,

The need of my care,

'Cause I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

32. Human Family - Maya Angelou

I note the obvious differences

in the human family.

Some of us are serious,

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some thrive on comedy.

Some declare their lives are lived

as true profundity,

and others claim they really live

the real reality.

The variety of our skin tones

can confuse, bemuse, delight,

brown and pink and beige and purple,

tan and blue and white.

I've sailed upon the seven seas

and stopped in every land,

I've seen the wonders of the world

not yet one common man.

I know ten thousand women

called Jane and Mary Jane,

but I've not seen any two

who really were the same.

Mirror twins are different

although their features jibe,

and lovers think quite different thoughts

while lying side by side.

We love and lose in China,

we weep on England's moors,

and laugh and moan in Guinea,

and thrive on Spanish shores.

We seek success in Finland,

are born and die in Maine.

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In minor ways we differ,

in major we're the same.

I note the obvious differences

between each sort and type,

but we are more alike, my friends,

than we are unalike.

We are more alike, my friends,

than we are unalike.

We are more alike, my friends,

than we are unalike.

33. Rose Painted - Paige

Black History Month poems
Black History Month poems. Photo: canva.com (modified by author)
Source: UGC

If I were a Rose painted black,

would you cast me aside

like blackened, burnt rice?

Would my colour tarnish my sweet smell?

If I were a Rose painted black,

would the richness of my ebony petals

make me unworthy

of being called

a Rose?

If I were a Rose painted white,

would my ivory petals be worth more than silver?

Would my sweet smell captivate

a room welcomingly?

If I were just a Rose,

sweet-smelling and vibrant

and your mind was blind...

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would my color matter?

34. I Heard The Voices Scream - Keisha Swafford

I heard the voices scream

"Best shut your mouth."

When prejudice ran wild

While hatred ruled the south

I heard the voices scream

"Back of the bus."

Never knew why whites thought

They were better than us

I heard the voices scream

"Blacks' setting off sparks."

When they saw the courage

Of the great Rosa Parks

I heard the voices scream

"Blacks can't go on strike."

But instead of the bus

To our jobs we would hike

I heard the voices scream

"We black folks have our pride."

As we walked hand in hand

And stood there side by side

I heard "I have a Dream."

By Martin Luther King,

"If we stick with this thing

The voices will not scream."

Heard, "Thank God Almighty,"

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Prejudice and hatred

Would now live in the past

I heard people singing

Songs full of love and peace

I heard people praying

For racism to cease

I heard the voices scream

"Black, pick my cotton

Color girl wash my floors"

Words won't be forgotten

I heard the voices scream

"White man's out and about."

I heard, "I Have a Dream"

Just as the shots rang out

I heard the teardrops fall

I heard God's Angels sing

I heard the black man say,

"They murdered Doctor King."

I heard the voices scream

"Revenge is what we seek."

And not, "I Have a Dream

Someday our race will peak."

I heard the voices scream

"We must stick together

Carry out Martin's dream

If it takes forever."

I heard the voices scream

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"We've won our Civil Rights."

The words, "I Have a Dream

We're equal to the whites."

I heard the voices scream

"Racism's here to stay

But thank God it isn't

As bad as yesterday."

I heard the voices scream,

"Black, back of the bus."

Never knew why whites thought

They were better than us

I heard my own voice scream

When my sweet Momma died

Leaving her legacy

Her honor and her pride

I heard, "I think I'll sit

I'm tired and it's dark"

Were said by my Momma

Whose name was Rosa Parks

35. Miss Rosie - Lucille Clifton

easy short black history poems
Easy short black history poems. Photo: canva.com (modified by author)
Source: UGC

when I watch you

wrapped up like garbage

sitting, surrounded by the smell

of too old potato peels

or

when I watch you

in your old man's shoes

with the little toe cut out

sitting, waiting for your mind

like next week's grocery

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I say

when I watch you

you wet brown bag of a woman

who used to be the best looking gal in Georgia

used to be called the Georgia Rose

I stand up

through your destruction

I stand up

No doubt, Black History Month poems will help African-American people have a glimpse of their history and connect with each other. These poems have the lasting inspiration of literature, allowing the black community's accomplishments and opinions to constantly shine and be conveyed.

Briefly.co.za highlighted the top Tswana traditional wedding cake designs. More couples in South Africa are embracing the concept of conventional weddings.

Tswana is a colourful culture that will make your big day memorable with the right cake design. The cake's colour, pattern, and shape should complement the ceremony's general theme.

Source: Briefly News

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