I am the raven blackness of night
the thick ebony of gaboon roots
I am the dark pigmentation of skin
and the apparent identity of race
I am that river that will never run dry
flowing from firm origins
I am the uncracked kernel endowed by earth
I am the blackness of charcoal on coloured canvas
I am the hands waving in the air folded into a fist
I am the resistance and the uprising chant
in battle against prejudice
I am the raised voices denouncing institutionalized oppression
I am the protest parade of the streets in camped colonies
the stand of solidarity for lost soldiers in the struggle
heaving without retreat or surrender
refusing to be silenced
I am a community in continuity
a thriving kind that will never go extinct
made of melanin and more
like the rich blackness of obsidian
“In this poem titled “Blackness”, the narrator uses metaphors to represent the Black race which has come under increasing attack in recent times. In this poem the narrator stands in solidarity with “soldiers in the struggle” and denounces “institutionalized oppression” on the basis of skin colour and racism in all its manifestations.The poet goes further to appreciate the black skin and compares it to obsidian, a precious stone while affirming that the black skin is as intact as “uncracked kernel”.“
Yewande Adebowale is a Nigerian Poet and Author.