Language of Enchantment

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A Glimpse Into History
(We Shall Overcome)



I read Nikki Giovanni’s book
"Quilting The Black-Eyed Pea."
It pushed me back into the pages
Now explained as History…

To the sidewalks of my childhood
In a mix of blacks and whites…
Where children played together
Not knowing words like Civil Rights.

In my Cajun Country raising
On the south side of the tracks,
Mama taught love and acceptance…
Some of her best friends were blacks.

I so remember Ms. Mahalia,
Who taught school across the street
Sharing coffee with my mother....
Bringing us good things to eat.

Life was lazy and laid back
In our sleepy, southern town.
I knew prejudice existed
But it had not grazed on my ground.

When Brenda Chretien touched my life
I really knew beyond a doubt
That real friendship knew no boundaries…
Love was what life was about.

Yet, in the ugly, screaming sixties,
I'd been forced to understand
 Not all whites were like my mama…
That there was evil in the land.

I watched in transfixed horror
At the scenes shown on TV!
How not even JFK or Bobby
Could stop the brutality!

I heard of beatings in New Orleans…
Some incidents in Baton Rouge.
The blacks protested peacefully
While the whites rained down abuse.

Yet in spite of all the lawlessness
In Mississippi and Alabam
Louisiana never got that bad
At least, not here in Cajun Land.

Never, ever, in my lifetime
Had I witnessed so much hate.
Yet MLK determined
He would change his people’s fate.

There was such a thirst for freedom
And equality was fair.
If it worked within my neighborhood,
Couldn’t it work everywhere?

God created all men equal…
Jesus set all sinners free.
The Golden Rule must be applied
If we have learned from History.

Doris Jacobs-Covington

~~Dedicated to my dear friend, Brenda,
whose friendship I’ve cherished for years.~~



~~Author's Note~~
In celebration of Martin Luther King
Day
I am publishing this poem I wrote many
years ago. Things have changed since then
but racism hasn't completely vanished from
the picture as of yet. I pray someday it won't
even be remembered...and this WILL happen
when Jesus sets up His Kingdom.




Galations 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave
nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one
in Christ Jesus.









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