We've Touched The World!

We’ve Touched the World

by Masnoh Wilson

Out of Africa, we came

20 million strong, young, old, male, female

Fathers, Mothers, daughters, sons

Aunties, uncles, cousins, kin

Mostly from Africa South of the Sahara

From Senegal, Guinea, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire,

Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, Nigeria

Cameroun, Mozambique, Congo, Angola

First taken to Spain, Portugal, Italy, France

England, Ireland and the Netherlands

Then brought to the U S, Jamaica, Haiti

Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Trinidad, Tobago

On to Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Panama

To Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador

India, Pakistan, and other parts of Asia

20 million strong, scattered all abroad

Impacting the world, wherever we went

And we’ve survived; 140 million strong

Making our presence felt, no matter where we are

Starting with creation, one can easily see

How that happened, the Garden of Eden’s in Africa

God used Africa to begin His creation

And then spread Africans around the world

To touch the world with our intelligence, culture

Knowledge, essence, attitude, spirit and soul

We’ve written books, mapped cities, performed surgeries

Commanded ships, invented machinery, done research

Built colleges, universities, secondary and primary schools

Built skyscrapers, designed buildings, and led armies

Written and performed plays

Published magazines and built industries

Established record labels, companies, and clothing lines

Designed fashion and run television networks

We are doctors, lawyers, engineers, and teachers

Nurses, entrepreneurs, singers, rappers

Dancers, models, bankers, preachers,

Plumbers, construction workers, and bus drivers

Is there anything we cannot do?

Actors, actresses, talk show hosts, athletes

Directors, producers, politicians, now President

 Community activists, beauticians, musicians, and artists

Our music and dance have engulfed the world

From jazz to pop, soul, gospel, rhythm and blues, now hip hop

To line dancing, merengue, jive, quick step, samba

From Scandinavia, to Australia, to Tibet and beyond

Africa’s drums can be heard everywhere!!!!

And so today we remember the door of No Return

For through those doors, our Ancestors straggled

With broken spirits, but unbowed heads

They entered New Worlds, never to return

But their presence can be felt everywhere you look

When you look at us, you see them too

They are not here to tell their stories, you see

But through each of us, their voices are still heard

For they’ve passed on to us a kind of resilience

That has empowered us to persevere

For though they were not supposed to survive

Survived they did; now, HERE WE ARE!!!!

Their Beautiful Black, all over we shine

In Asia, Europe, North America

The Caribbean, Central and South America

Although we bear slavery’s sad legacy,

We forge ahead to create our own!!!!