election watch party in khartoum start time: 3:30 am

and some words in reflection from this historic day....


Like Sam Cooke said


My country tis of thee sweet land of liberty of thee I sing
Land where my fathers died …
And I am proud

Proud of the freedom fighters that set the path we are now crossing
The hero’s
Heroines
Grandmothers, grandfathers
The workers
The movers and the shakers, the revolutionaries, the writers, the speakers, the singers, change agents, poets , visionaries, artists
Ida B. wells, Fannie Lou Hamer, Huey P . Newton, Assata Shakur, Ericka Huggins, Harriet Tubman, Dubois, Douglass, King , El Hajj Malik el Shabazz- Malcolm X, Billie Holiday, Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, Audre Lorde, Paul Robeson, Jack Johnson, Sarah Grimke, William Still, Nat Turner…

my body aches with pride
proud history of struggle
of the fighters
of those who gave their lives for change and continue to

because
now (as always ) is the time
now

we must change

We can not become complacent
Sit idle
Disempowered from our own destinies

A window has been opened
The lit torch passed on
A new page to be written
A new path to forge

And we will rise, en sha allah,
On the backs of our ancestors, blood , sweat
Salty tears
Like those that run down the corners of my eyes
Finding their way back to where they belong
Free flowing form
Not captured shackled or thrown in shark infested waters
Free flowing
Free to speak
live
breathe

Run down free
For joy
For pride
For hope again
embraced

My people so badly need

My brothers. My black brothers who
Are never given the chance
They deserve
For life, for living ,for dreams
For my brown sisters, My brown and black sisters who
Are told they can’t do and then do what they must do to survive


ask me why I am crying.
Not for sadness.
These tears are for change
For the work done and to be done
For the blood shed, sacrifices made and ones to come
For the tide that is turning
For the promise that

Like sam cooke said…

Its been a long time coming but I know change is gonna come…oh yes it will….

********************************************

I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh just like the river I’ve been running ever since

Its been a long time coming, but I know change is gonna come
Oh yes it will

Its been too hard living. But im afraid to die. Cause I don’t know whats up there
Beyond the sky

Its been a long time coming but I know change is gonna come, oh yes it will

I go to the movie and I go downtown. Somebody keep telling me don’t hang around, its been a long a long time coming but I know change is gon come, oh yes it will.

Then I go to my brother. And I say brother help me please. But he winds up knocking me back down on my knees.
Ohhhhhh
There been times that I thought I couldn’t last for long. But now I think im able to carry on.
Its been a long time coming but I know change is gon come. Oh yes it will.

By mariposa colston
11.5.08