BOBBEE BEE: WE ARE SURVIVORS

'I got so much trouble on my mind. I refuse to lose. Here's your ticket'
-- Chuck D. of Public Enemy from "Welcome to the Terrordome."


by Eric D. Graham

NORTH CAROLINA (BASN) -- Despite all the death and destruction caused by a devasting earthquake in Port-au-Prince which killed 250,000, injured 200,000, and left two million Haitians homeless and hopeless -- something miraculous happened.

Earlier this week, rescuers pulled a three-week-old baby girl alive from the rubble of a house, who had survived seven days without any food or water.

That little miracle is truly a blessing and a living testimony of the resilence of Black people. For that reason, the gospel song by the Williams Brothers entitled "I Am Still Here" is the perfect song to play while reading this article.

Because despite the Middle Passage, slavery, Jim Crow segregation, the Black Codes, lynching, South African Apartheid, Neo-Nazis, the KKK, church bombings, cross burnings, forced sterilization, abortions, poor schools, ghettos, police brutality, drive-by shootings, gangs, Heroin, CIA-crack cocaine, the Tuskegee Experiment, the Prison Industrial Complex, AIDS, crooked politicians, lying preachers, fast food restaurants, and microchips.

We are still here.

Even after the Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Desert Storm, the Iraqi War, and the War in Afghanistan.

We are still here.

Even after George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, Bull Connor, J. Edgar Hoover, Jesse Helms, Frederik de Klerk, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Sean Hannity, Pat Robertson, and Rush Limbaugh.

We are still here.

Even though they sprained up with water hoses, had dogs bite us, police beat us, refused to serve us, called us "every thing but a child of God," and spit in our faces.

We are still here.
Even though they hated Marcus Garvey, Elijah Muhammad, Wallace Fard Muhammad, Louis Farrakhan, Khalid Muhammed, Huey Newton, Stokley Carmichael, H. Rap Brown, Nelson Mandela, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, President Barack Obama and Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

We are still here.
Even though they assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, Medgar Evers, Fred Hampton Jr., Emmitt Till and Little Bobby Hutton.

We are still here.

Even though Muhammad Ali lost his heavyweight belt cause he refused to fight in Vietnam, Arthur Ashe passed away, Len Bias died from a cocaine overdose, Magic contracted AIDS, Michael Vick went to jail, Barry Bonds was accused of using steroids, and Tiger cheated on his wife.

We are still here.

Even though we imitated Richard Pryor, laughed with Robin Harris, cursed with Redd Foxx, and joked with Bernie Mack.

We are still here.

Even though we still miss Marvin Gaye, loved us some Luther Vandross, danced with James Brown, cried for Michael Jackson, and "made some good lovin" to Teddy Pendergrass.

We are still here.

Even though the Fugees broke up, Jam Master Jam got shot, Tupac Shakur got killed, and Biggie Smalls got murdered.

We are still here.

And despite 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the recent devasting earthquake that hit Haiti, we are still here.
Cause we're 'BEBE'S KIDS', WE DON'T DIE! WE MULTIPLY!!
And most importantly, we're still here

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if you like what you are learning please leave a comment for Eric D. Graham at lbiass34@yahoo.com