Dr. Synnika’s Topical Poem of the Week explores American issues that affect the African-American community, such as racism, oppression, gender inequality, and poverty. Synnika Lofton offers a unique blend of social commentary and poetry in each episode. In this episode of Dr. Synnika’s Topical Poem of the Week, Synnika Lofton examines the power of Black History Month to troll America. Lofton believes millions of Americans are uncomfortable with Black History Month because it represents the beauty, resilience, and struggle of the African-American experience.
FLASH BACK EPISODE: “USING BLACK HISTORY TO TROLL AMERICA”
Zuri Lofton: You are now listening to Dr. Synnika’s Topical Poem of the Week
In 1926, Carter G. Woodson had the brilliant idea of formally establishing a commemoration for African-American history on the North American continent because, frankly, Black creativity, Black ingenuity, Black accomplishments, and Black contributions had been systematically left out of the history books. I mean, in some cases, Africans have been on the North American continent longer than a lot of Europeans. Woodson established Negro History Week to accomplish this task, choosing the month of February because of the birthdays of two men: the famous Black Orator, abolitionist, and former slave Frederick Douglass and the nation’s 16th president Abraham Lincoln. Negro History Week expanded to a month long observance in 1970 at Kent Sate University. Six years later it became a national observance. We all know history glorifies the myths, legends, ideas, accomplishments, and stories of the conquerors, and America does a great job of teaching children that the early English settlers were righteous people that wanted to simply create a society and be left alone. The Puritans wanted to pray by themselves and the explorers reserved the right to exploit every natural resource on the land. All they had to do was slaughter, kill, and manipulate millions of Native Americans and enslave millions of Africans. Some American historians have preserved and continue to preserve false narratives and mythologies that celebrate the so-called accomplishments of wealthy colonial era white men because the only identity that mattered at the founding of this American experiment was white identity. That’s right, folks. The original identity politics centered on preservation of white identity and white nationalism. Just read the Naturalization Act of 1790, but I digress. I love Black History Month, not because it allows me to connect with my African and African-American heritage. I do that every single day because it’s a form of self-defense. It’s a survival tactic. I love Black History Month because Americans are not as evolved as one might think. This particular month makes a lot of anti-Black Americans extremely angry. It exposes the hypocrites in this country and reveals the tremendous amount of anti-Black racism that still eats away at the social fabric of these United States. I mean, just look at what has happened in the last several weeks. Biden vows to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court. Americans go crazy. Brian Flores sues the NFL because of racial discrimination. Americans go crazy. The killer police officer that shot LaQuan McDonald gets to walk out of prison, and Amir Locke is shot down by Minnesota police officers.. Being Black or African-American in the United States is dangerous, but we survived it all. We survived the chattel slavery and racial terrorism. We survived the Black Codes and the decades of lynching. We survived peonage and the convict leasing system. We survived Jim Crow, Redlining, and all of the institutionalized racism that White Supremacy could fit in its tiny brain. We have survived all of the repression, insults, police violence, bomb threats, and attempts at trying to silence our voices and experiences. So for me, Black History Month is the perfect way to troll America. Check out the poem Usoing Black History to Troll America.
Zuri Lofton: You are now listening to Dr. Synnika’s Topical Poem of the Week
and history is on
the skin disrupting the status
quo rattling nerves
and making parents
fear the worst.
Like Ravens without patience
Like RAVENS without patience
we troll American
comfort zones
and anxieties.
every february,
they grab pitchforks
and white robes
and badges
and three piece suits
and offer repression, insults,
or laws about divisive
concepts.
our blues make hostile people
feel uncomfortable
make parents find the tiplines
they send bomb threats,
angry tweets, and sometimes, bullets
but the way we walk
beneath sunlight
is confrontation.
how many people can
arm their skin?
how many people
can start fires
by weaponizing culture?
to live here is a gamble,
a calculated risk; we see integration’s
limits and flaws
but we shine
we laugh
we love
we resist
we find the right altitude
we raise fists
we bulletproof dreams
we lift our heads toward
sunlight
Like militant Ravens without patience
Like militant RAVENS without patience
we survive
we dance
yea
Zuri: Tune in next week for another episode of Dr. Synnika’s Topical Poem of the Week.
Synnika: For more information on this show, make sure to visit: www.iamsynnika.com
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