Feeling Like A Black Man
By Al Staggs

Hearing the melodies,
the lyrics,
the major keys of white kids
singing songs of faith
do not touch me
as the earthy, groaning
protests of anguish
set to song,
the music of black people
who sing their songs from Memory,
a Memory laced with desperation
with the search for truth amid horror.

The contexts of our lives
set the tonalities of our songs,
the setting of our lives
dictate the lyrics we
join to our tunes.
For it’s not just heaven
that is at stake.
It is singing in the midst of hell
it is proclaiming the
timeless truth in a world of countless trials.
This is song, this is worship,
this is music.

Updated Monday, March 03, 2003