A Farewell Poem to Professor Terry Smith (1964 – 2020)
The Last of the Giants
Spoken Word of Poem here Terry Smith Last of the Giants
You are………………you were………………….always will be
ahead of your time
one of the last torches still burning
a lone voice in what was once a chorus, unified, demanding justice
time widdled away
their passion
money eroded
the pain
a little power, anesthesia
made them believe
they were change agents, carrying the torch
But you warned us
There is no fire
No light
You sounded the alarm
the dreams of our mothers………were dying
dreams of our fathers………empty promises
Listen, listen to the words
Betrayed by their actions
Lives of contradiction
Hypocrisy oozing from their mouths
Words on paper, thousands of pages, millions of lies betrayed
By their actions
Perpetuating hierarchy
Oppression
Power to systems
Enslave, ban, deport, humiliate, pillage, impoverish
ALERT ALERT
Wake up
Awaken
From your slumber
Sleep walking, not living
Complacent Compliant
Few survived the counterattacks
the 1970s whitelash
the 1980s trickle down…trickle down…..to your knees where you belong Black man
Hardy individualism, on your own, alone, divided, fractured
1990s the new plantation, the old plantation of black bodies
Castrated
Locked up
Caged
Indentured
Blessed by the law
The wretched of the earth
You rang the bell
Ringing in our ears, so loud, so sharp, cannot rest
Stop, STOP
They said
Stop shouting
You are angry, uncivil, hostile
Too loud
Too proud
Black man – SHUT UP – GET OUT!
You are awakening the slaves
Rebellion is afoot
The ghost of your ancestors
Bemoans the detours, the windy paths leading away,
down
down
down
Into the dead ends
Yet, they were moving up, they believed
To the light
To freedom
Beware, alarm, RED ALERT
You shouted
We closed our ears
Shut our eyes
Sealed our mouths
Stopped feeling complacent compliant
Feel good – always – smiles – always
No pain, no suffering
We have arrived!
Terry, you called out, pulled up, saw through what blinded the rest of us
Terry, you sacrificed too much
And now, today, tomorrow Forever
You are Gone
The silence is deafening, numbing
The last of the giants
We awaken
We are naked
Spoken Word of Poem here Terry Smith Last of the Giants