Stack the stores from the fronts to the backs of stores
Packed on racks, wrapped, tacked up, and stacked on floors
Open glass doors, attract the masses, jack the middle class n poor
It’s Black Friday
Eyes are fried ’til they black, burn cash like crack n glow
Getting high off desire, n injecting flow
Lack the finance to back what you cop n blow
Black dust, ash, back up before it explodes
They hijacked Black Power, mixed it with greedy economics
Sprinkled some crack, crap rap, then threw some Ds on it
And produced black powder, which is volatile
Once lit the trail follows us n all the while
We running from debt before it runs into us
It follows close the whole time until it combusts
Burns everything, fries it ’til it’s black
It’s Black Friday
Etymologically I’m told it’s unrelated to race
Ontologically I know that it relies on our place
In society. Our balance, and how high it be
Whether falling off would cause us to die, but see
Hitting rock bottom hurts less with your feet planted firmly on dirt
The earth is our strength, the soil embodies our worth
Beauty and value, in all shades of brown
That’s why money comes from trees that grow from the ground
Why brown people’s land is mined and abandoned
Why brown people’s minds are mined and abandoned
In mines where peoples of earth are murdered for rocks
That’s why brown minds and gold are locked up confined and boxed
To keep us all safe, and our minds dug out, ideas extracted
Credit cards declined, so bug out, and end transaction
The earth is our strength, the soil embodies our worth
Buy more land, and less ice, for peoples of the earth
See, that’s why we need to take the streets back
Plant seeds in the street’s cracks
Dig pot holes, cuz people’s black
And blue beaten down ’til we believe we cheap
Chopped up and flattened
Arranged into patterns
Bought and sold
On Black Fridays
So weep water ’til our seeds hatch
Green leaves will grow from our seas, so reach back
And each one teach one
Imbue our seeds with warmth and heat
From hugs, and not guns
Roll deeper than the ocean
Like the soil at the bottom of the sea
Be the change, shift minds and bodies tectonically
Blast sonic waves through the pavement
Tsunamis of the mind when the waves hit, mnemonically
Aid our collective memory
Lest we forget our beauty
Let us never forget our beauty
On Black Fridays
Prepare to bust through concrete into combat
From dirt and earth through black holes that
Absorb the lightness of dreams
Unify the masses with beams
Connecting us like eighth notes in musical notation
Resonate with the frequency of our collective voice and foundation
Which is equal to the rhythm of our hearts’ beats
So walk with it, it is the expression of our divinity
The number eight rotated, beyond time, to wealth and infinity
Outnumber haters with one love, immerse yourself in it, be
One body, in unity, and remember to watch our feet and our purpose
Cuz if we rush to compete then our feats will be worthless
We should never resemble the stampedes, allow ourselves to be herded
Into walmarts and malls where people are trampled and murdered
On Black Fridays
Which follow a time to give thanks
Lose change stagnate sell our lives to banks
Say thank you very much, I really do appreciate
The way they raped n beat the native people even stole the way
That they commemorate the harvest and give thanks n celebrate
All the wealth of the soil and people of the earth, so we give thanks
By harvesting the shelves of malls for christmases
Starving our selves selling souls to big businesses
Quenching our thirst on fried days that’s black as guinness is
Getting drunk off burnt cash ashed out in lattes, so finish it
As buzzes burn off n our high diminishes
With a bad taste in our mouths, we still avow that we fine, we innocent
But sometimes it’s hard to consume, and that’s why I spit
Fuck feeble gunman power in laws an politics, this is the earth and ocean largely writ
This is oral sedition
It honours our unified song
In the choral tradition
Epitomizing harmony and soul
Legitimizing our wisdom and all that we know
Proclaiming the fact we are beautiful and whole
We cannot reclaim what nobody ever stole
Bind my feet, my hands. Bind my mouth, my eyes, and I will still sing
Sing freedom of heart. Sing freedom of mind
Sing freedom of freedom from where freedom begins
We are of the soil, from which beauty is birthed
The earth is our strength, the soil embodies our worth
So spend a little bit less, and give a little bit more
And will that we do it for the people of the earth
And look, I don’t hate on anybody
I too will do what I want with my own damn money
I cop christmas presents n shop at walmart
Rock mall clothes n drop cheesy poems in cards from hallmark
And truth is that I don’t really know shit about the economy
Except that ours can’t exist without oppression and dishonesty
So I promise to watch my feet and my purpose
Cuz if I rush to compete then my feats will be worthless
I should never proceed to stampede, allow myself to be herded
Into masses with careless footsteps that trample and murder
On Black Fridays
And black Mondays
And black Tuesdays to Thursdays
And even on the weeks’ ends
Because we can kill commit crimes of the heart
Stand trial and walk, anywhere our feet can
Watch that both our feet and purpose remain on the ground
Surround ourselves with freedom songs, our voices profound
Walk with each other, plant our feet firmly, drop seeds
Stop running, move calm, strong, learn, cry, walk, and bleed
Soak the soil, saturate it slowly, do not flood
Settle on and for fertile soil, settle not for rocks, marsh and mud
Remember that the earth is our strength, the soil embodies our worth
We are all that is valuable, all that is beautiful combined
So when we buy in, please keep in both intention and in mind
That we have been, that we are and will be, the people of the earth
Andrew Abraham is not a poet, but he obviously is. He has been writing poetry since grade three in which he wrote his first limerick about a particularly violent toad who loathed salami. He continues to write because it’s fun. Andrew works with a local youth organization called Leave Out ViolencE (LOVE) and was a member of the 2007 and 2008 Halifax Slam Teams, winners of back-to-back National Slam titles. He also reads The Coast.
This article appears in Dec 25-31, 2008.