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MARCH 11,1998
Page B5
by
A Little Piece O f Portland’s History
S arah K emp
“Next ship to the New World,” cries a voice in the night.
To this man this cry brings nothing but fright.
To most the New World means riches and joy,
To this man it means leaving his wife and young boy.
Herded on to the ship like cattle and sheep.
Shoved down into the ship’s cold, dark keep.
Across the ocean, to the new land.
This man arrives with shackles on his hands.
Sold to the highest bidder that came.
The bidder cares nothing of his origin or name.
A good strong back and a will to survive,
This man will need it to keep him alive.
The years come and go and god takes and gives.
This man in now gone but his son now lives.
This new man is treated as his father, a slave.
This man, like his father, will have to be brave.
Generation come and generations go,
Passing as quickly as new fallen snow.
When freedom is cried throughout the land.
This man still has shackles on his hands.
He doesn’t yet have freedom but hopes for the day.
That the line between colors will vanish away.
One day a strong man of the opposite race,
With a warm, open heart, and a kind, smiling face.
Said that men are the same, no matter what color their skin, ,
And that’s when that awful war did begin.
The war was fought and the cause was won,
This man was now free as was his son.
Although he was free the line was still there.
The feeling of hate was still in the air.
Shunned and mocked, wherever he goes,
What freedom is this? He’d like to know.
Again the years pass, and this man is still scorned,
A new day has come and a new man is bom.
This man has a dream of a new better world.
For his wife and young boys and young girls.
Employees Christmas party at Rich Manufacturing In December of 19 4 6 or 1947.
First from the left in the bottom row is the father of Earl Bennett. Mr. Bennett and on the same row third person O.C. Taylor father of
Doris, Gary Ann, Bernadine, Sharon and Ronald Taylor.
"Therels A River” In the History and Destiny of African People
As African American/Black His
tory Month draws to a close we should
be ever mindful of the necessity to
focus on the history, culture and
legacy of African people on an ongo
ing basis. It is in our history that we
will find the inspiration and encour
agement to keep pressing forward on
the painstaking and essential task of
rescuing and restoring the race.
Perhaps this is what noted theolo
gian and historian Dr. Vincent
Harding had in mind when he wrote
his brilliant and inspiring historical
treatise There Is A River. Dr. Harding
no doubt saw in the river a fitting
analogy to the history and destiny of
African people. The river has an
origin, a source, and always flows
towards an ultimate destination.
During the course of its journey the
river may be enlarged by other tribu
taries which enrich it and make it
stronger; it may flood spreading rich
deposits of alluvial soil along its banks
to make the coming harvests more
bountiful; the river may be drasti
cally diminished by devastating
draughts that slow its motion towards
its appointed goal. But the river is
persistent, relentless and resilient in
pursuit o f its destiny. It may encoun
ter barriers along the way, but it will
adroitly flow under, over or around
them pressing onward...
There is a river in the hirsute and
destiny of African people. Our source
is the great African continent, the
motherland, the giver o f life to Afri
can people and the entirety of the
species. For countless generations
African people were at the forefront
of human civilization spreading a
vast amalgam of civilizing and hu
manizing influences from the Nile
Valley, the greatest cradle of civili
zation the world has ever known.
The Greeks and Romans sat at our
feet, drank from the vital wellspring
of knowledge which we possessed,
carried it back to their homes and
claimed it for their own.
Egypt/Kemet was the envy of the
world and in its latter life the source
of constant invasion by outsiders
eager to conquer the mater teacher of
the ancient world. Eventually these
invasions took their toll as Egypt lost
its independence and was drained of
her vitality. It’s great genius and
wisdom, however, could not be de
stroyed. Its gifts had already spread
throughout the African continent ser
vicing as the foundation for the world
view, way oflife and “cultural unity’
of African people. African people
used this foundation to produce the
great kingdoms of Ghana, Mali,
Songhay, Kongo, Zimbabwe, Azania
and many others. We developed
remarkable universities at Sankore
and Timbuktu which attracted schol-
1
ars from around the world. Even
after the demise o f Egypt, Africa was
a land ofknowledge, peace and pros
perity for centuries.
Then came the holocaust of en-
slavement-a disastrous intervention
into the affairs o f African people by
outsiders with negative consequences
unparalleled in human history. The
traffic in slaves resulted in the deaths
of millionsof Africans, millions more
were dispersed like cattle or human
cargo to distant and unfamiliar lands
in the western hemisphere. Trading
pattern and relations among peoples
and nations were disrupted and the
natural course of development ot the
might continent was distorted and
retarded. Africa was laid low.
But there is a river in the history
and destiny of A frican people. “T ruth
crushed to earth will rise again.”
Though drained by the devastation
of the holocaust and eventually colo
nialism, racial oppression and eco-
"nomic exploitation, those who gave
the world its first breath oflife.
H arry B ook er
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