So Far
by Corey Jackson
So far we have come
But yet so far we….
So far we have to go
This place, America
Has put us
In a tough place.
Instead of teaching
Our young men
How to prosper
How to thrive
In success
The parents are
Teaching how to survive
In the streets
The educators are
Preaching how to survive
In the classroom
From grades
And other educators
For a lack
of knowledge of either
Could result
In the preacher presiding
Over their homegoing.
So far we have come
But yet so far we….
So far we have to go
In the same conversation
That we show optimism
That as a black male
You could lead this country
We have to be realistic
That as a black man
You are destined
To face adversity
In nearly every thing
You do.
The climb up
that steep hill
Of justice and equality
Is as difficult
As the hills
Dr. King climbed
In Alabama
The difference is
Those hills of the sixties
Of rock and stone
Are now composed
of Red Clay
For it is much
Harder for those
Who made those hills
To wash off
their Filthy hands
of injustice.
So far we have come
But yet so far we…
So far we have to go
As the list of
Slain black males climb
We must fall
Fall to the realization
That tough roads
Are Ahead
The same groups
That support and
Protect you
Also have people
Who are there
To hate
and destroy you.
Society and
Those who
Interpret society’s laws
Have shown
To be dangerous.
Our people killing
Our people over
Items of monetary value
Our protectors killing
Our people over
Assumptions of actions
of crime and civility.
Young Brown, Young Martin
The martyrs of
America’s Choice
To make a major problem
Into a minor incident.
This generation
And those to come
Must learn how
To live
Not in fear
But intelligence
Be smart, be aware
Be understanding
The circumstance.
Black history
Of America’s past
Is still present today.
So far we have come
But yet so far we…
So far we have to go
Corey Jackson is an educator and former University of Richmond football player who believes that the fight for racial justice and equality is far from over.
Dr. Kiara Shanay Lee 