The Pain of a Black Man poem by poet Naomi Johnson

For hundreds of years, the black man has been crying

with inner tears, stripped from his manly dignity and

identity, his self-love has been ripped.

He witnesses over again his son’s body being lynched

in the enemy’s clench, tremendous and his daughter suffer greatly

pain from being raped and spiritually slain.

The black man harbors a lot of anguish that tugs on his tarnished soul,

but his divine love fights to keep him whole.

His strength of an ox allows him to stand strong

to carry the burdened until freedom comes along.

He remains firm in his faith even when he is

being whipped as blood from his skin drips.

With his limbs decapitated, he is not physically

stagnated.

The black man endures years of deception and

rejection in every place because of his colored face.

Yet his will power of determination makes him

over look discrimination.

Century’s of captivity as a slave have some men

scarred from enslaved views that are bound

in their minds.

In spite of all the hardship he endures, his inner

godly peace sustains him from grief.

No other race can explain the endurance of a black

man’s pain he hides inside where injustice resides.

Still, the black man’s soul struggles to run free and his

humble ways makes his strength a mystery.

He exemplifies a true hero of life and unpleasant

strife, but his faith continues to rise.

Yet he has a spiritual majestic power that shines

from his eyes.