“Black” by LaNiya Whitlock ’25
Black love is strong,
Forgiving, and hopeful.
The power of love is unbeatable,
Spoken by our black leaders we should fight hate with love and pray.
Black love is everlasting,
Joyful, and powerful.
Black love will make you feel at home,
Like you belong,
Like you’ve never felt real love before.
Black people are capable of overcoming,
Being optimistic, and doing everything anyone else can.
Black joy is the most joyful of joys that may ever be joy.
Black is beautiful.
“Brother Brown” by Mason Black, ’24
In hues that dance in the night sky, a vibrant tale is spun,
“Brother Brown” stands proud beneath the sun.
With strokes of grace, a tale is told of a black man’s adversity,
some bloody but all were bold.
In color so rich, with melanin that illuminates,
the echoes of Harlem shoots out as a star does in the sky.
From African descent, to Harlem’s embrace,
all he knew was work to keep food on his plate.
Akin to his roots that sprout all over the place
His ancestors explored emerald forests and sapphire seas,
but some even forced to split family trees, even then they did not break,
for they were resilient and not “just slaves”
From a kaleidoscope of ancestral pleas,
Brother Brown stands tall as the man he knew he’d always be.
Anchored in gold, neatly untamed, the challenges of struggle fell on Harlem’s shoulders,
but triumphant they stood tall.
For their culture was reclaimed
A testament to the human heart with spirts set ablaze
many people of harlem grew to know that the were not “free slaves”
Brother brown stands tall as the beacon of light for Harlem’s embrace,
but today he needed a break for living like this brings the truth
of how hard even if there is a smile on his face.
