The Dark One is My Slave The dark one is my slave Thats what the lady on Ricky Lake said. Because the guests
were battling so much Fussin about the same old tired stuff We black folks argue about The Willie Lynch syndrome,
Thats what some people call it Ya know their lines That girls cute to be dark, Hes with her cuz shes
light Not smart. And they say my boys with good hair Get the girls. True Afro-Americans got naps, Not
natural curls Such harsh words made that woman sad And I got upset, Staring at that tube Hearing that
same rhetoric Knowing theres still some Some black folks That feels that way Even in 2001, even today
So that gentlewoman was compelled To tell that audience Something that I never heard Something I never knew
She said when our people were first emancipated And we were loosed from slavery Set free The light Negroes
and the dark Negroes Would travel in groups They were all headed north Searching for a better life with a common
goal And the fair ones, the ones who could pass Would look out for the dark brothers When whites would harass
them, Entreating them Asking them why they kept company with a nigger To protect their brothers, to keep them
from harm To continue safely, to make their way The light skins Negroes would simply say, That dark one used to
be my slave
PUBLISHED POEMS The following poems have been published on the internet Lori Peterson's poems: 1.
The Dark One is My Slave (published on timbooktu.com) 2. Push/Pull (published on timbooktu.com) 3. Coal Girl
(published on timbooktu.com) (This poem was also entered in the defpoetryjam.com contest as Variations on a Sista's
Skin) 4. The Spotlight is On Me. (published on nubianchronicles.com in May 2001) 5. Girl's Rape (won June 2001
defpoetryjam.com contest)
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