Poetic-Verses
A Chat with Mrs. Coretta Scott-King
It was further back than yesterday. Yes! It was farther than yesterday. Between my composition of the poem “I Can” in 1986 and the and the popularization of the term Afr-i-can Amer-i-can in 1989, I had the opportunity to conversate with Dr. King’s widow. From the time that I entered Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge (LSUBR) in 1970, I had heard a number of ahistorical facts surrounding Black History Month. One particular gripe was that it was given to us because it was the shortest month. Actually, white folks had little to do with the designation of the time to celebrate Black History. Rather, Carter Godwin Woodson opened the window on Negro History Week, the predecessor of African American History Month. He selected a week in February which included the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.
To cure this ailment, when I spoke with Mrs. King in 1988, I asked her to help me change the dates for Black History Month. I suggested that it should run from Dr. King’s Birthday Holiday through President’s Day, i. e., the third Monday in January through the third Monday in February. I explained that with these dates, Woodson’s original concept would be maintained, the period would be a full month, and that it would include the birthday of her husband, who had not been born when Dr. Woodson recognized it in 1926. Mrs. King said that changing the date was an interesting idea. She also noted that it would have too many logistical requirements.
I yet maintain that Dr. King’s Holiday to President’s is an ideal window for African American History Month! This is one of the reasons that I present it to you. Involved in such a change would be too many logistical requirements. History has shown that not as many logistics would be required to this upgrade as were associated with change to African American. How then, you are probably wondering, can this be done: “It can be done through the power of poetry!” The poem “I Can”, by introducing and defining the concept of African American the way people identified, received and addressed us. The same can be done with the “from B’Day to P-Day” upgrade. That’s why I have penned the poem, “From King to President.” POETRY HAS POWER!
B'DAY to P'DAY
As often as things change, things often remain the same.
There was a time in our story when we had a king,
Whose rule was a divine right with a divine reign.
George the First, George the Second and George the Third
Were Hanoverian Kings who were America's scourge,
Despite having the first and last word.
“No taxation without representation”,
Made the colonists speak with trepidation.
Dr. Ben Rush was the 1st to call them an American nation.
Out of the Colonial evolution,
Came the American Revolution,
Which proved to be the ultimate solution.
The world knows of the suffering at Valley Forge,
And the maneuvers to please the 3rd George,
Which paved the way for the election of the 1st George.
The slave owning rumor was persistent.
Yet, America went from king to president,
An achievement without precursor or precedent.
The “Intolerable Acts” defined our treatment in the 1750’s & 60’s.
Intolerable acts defined our treatment in the 1950’s & 60’s.
Civil unrest is the same whether it's Shay's or Whiskey's.
“No taxation without representation” was a renewed cry,
Which led one courageous man to ask why,
In the trenches of civil rights must we die.
For far more than 200 years,
America confronted and conquered folk’s fears.
The Dream did not come without shedding some tears.
He hailed the hilltops from which freedom could ring
We no longer had a king, but we had a KING,
Who sang, “Lift Every Voice and sing.”
These lyrics are not just your story,
But, they comprise our story,
Which is illustrious and filled with glory.
Despite unrest and social disgust
From Pitt to Park’s ride on a Montgomery bus
Political correctness has become a must.
The greatest theme in U. S. History
Was not and is not a mystery.
Success involves endeavors that are risky.
From George III to the First George,
From the 3rd George to Olduvai Gorge
From king to president has been an American urge.
*Be you red, yellow, white, black or any other race, if you are an American—then “From king to president is your story.” This theme marks the transition of the land from colonies to a nation. It is the triumphant sojourn of a man called KING to the election of a Black man we call PRESIDENT.
I created and defined the term Afr-i-can Amer-i-can with the 1986 poem by the name of “I CAN”.
As I then re-defined Black folks, I now re-define the parameters of African American History by decreeing that “FROM KING TO PRESIDENT” is the permanent theme of any commemoration that uses my brainchild “AFRICAN AMERICAN”.
It was further back than yesterday. Yes! It was farther than yesterday. Between my composition of the poem “I Can” in 1986 and the and the popularization of the term Afr-i-can Amer-i-can in 1989, I had the opportunity to conversate with Dr. King’s widow. From the time that I entered Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge (LSUBR) in 1970, I had heard a number of ahistorical facts surrounding Black History Month. One particular gripe was that it was given to us because it was the shortest month. Actually, white folks had little to do with the designation of the time to celebrate Black History. Rather, Carter Godwin Woodson opened the window on Negro History Week, the predecessor of African American History Month. He selected a week in February which included the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.
To cure this ailment, when I spoke with Mrs. King in 1988, I asked her to help me change the dates for Black History Month. I suggested that it should run from Dr. King’s Birthday Holiday through President’s Day, i. e., the third Monday in January through the third Monday in February. I explained that with these dates, Woodson’s original concept would be maintained, the period would be a full month, and that it would include the birthday of her husband, who had not been born when Dr. Woodson recognized it in 1926. Mrs. King said that changing the date was an interesting idea. She also noted that it would have too many logistical requirements.
I yet maintain that Dr. King’s Holiday to President’s is an ideal window for African American History Month! This is one of the reasons that I present it to you. Involved in such a change would be too many logistical requirements. History has shown that not as many logistics would be required to this upgrade as were associated with change to African American. How then, you are probably wondering, can this be done: “It can be done through the power of poetry!” The poem “I Can”, by introducing and defining the concept of African American the way people identified, received and addressed us. The same can be done with the “from B’Day to P-Day” upgrade. That’s why I have penned the poem, “From King to President.” POETRY HAS POWER!
B'DAY to P'DAY
As often as things change, things often remain the same.
There was a time in our story when we had a king,
Whose rule was a divine right with a divine reign.
George the First, George the Second and George the Third
Were Hanoverian Kings who were America's scourge,
Despite having the first and last word.
“No taxation without representation”,
Made the colonists speak with trepidation.
Dr. Ben Rush was the 1st to call them an American nation.
Out of the Colonial evolution,
Came the American Revolution,
Which proved to be the ultimate solution.
The world knows of the suffering at Valley Forge,
And the maneuvers to please the 3rd George,
Which paved the way for the election of the 1st George.
The slave owning rumor was persistent.
Yet, America went from king to president,
An achievement without precursor or precedent.
The “Intolerable Acts” defined our treatment in the 1750’s & 60’s.
Intolerable acts defined our treatment in the 1950’s & 60’s.
Civil unrest is the same whether it's Shay's or Whiskey's.
“No taxation without representation” was a renewed cry,
Which led one courageous man to ask why,
In the trenches of civil rights must we die.
For far more than 200 years,
America confronted and conquered folk’s fears.
The Dream did not come without shedding some tears.
He hailed the hilltops from which freedom could ring
We no longer had a king, but we had a KING,
Who sang, “Lift Every Voice and sing.”
These lyrics are not just your story,
But, they comprise our story,
Which is illustrious and filled with glory.
Despite unrest and social disgust
From Pitt to Park’s ride on a Montgomery bus
Political correctness has become a must.
The greatest theme in U. S. History
Was not and is not a mystery.
Success involves endeavors that are risky.
From George III to the First George,
From the 3rd George to Olduvai Gorge
From king to president has been an American urge.
*Be you red, yellow, white, black or any other race, if you are an American—then “From king to president is your story.” This theme marks the transition of the land from colonies to a nation. It is the triumphant sojourn of a man called KING to the election of a Black man we call PRESIDENT.
I created and defined the term Afr-i-can Amer-i-can with the 1986 poem by the name of “I CAN”.
As I then re-defined Black folks, I now re-define the parameters of African American History by decreeing that “FROM KING TO PRESIDENT” is the permanent theme of any commemoration that uses my brainchild “AFRICAN AMERICAN”.
