Dr. King knew how I might learn hate
For always can I learn to hate THEM—
You know who THEY are
(Do not each of US know?)
THEY who steal my car
THEY who steal my land
THEY who steal my work
THEY who deny me care
THEY who call my baby “slow”
THEY who rape my daughter
THEY who shoot my son
THEY who demolish my towers
THEY who watch as my city drowns
THEY who despise my every dream
Even from the grave, Dr. King asks still:
Will WE hate ourselves—or shall WE overcome?
Shall we overcome?
WE—all groping for knowledge and vision
WE—fearing death and some darkness beyond
WE—at once wronged, and doers of wrong
WE can forgive ourselves and our fellows
WE can mourn loss upon common ground
WE can live as we find grace to live
WE can relearn, repair and rebuild
WE can love
As One who ever is Love loves us
So it is written in the Book
So it was proven upon the Cross
And so we are taught by a certain prophet
Named Martin Luther King, Jr.
How we can overcome
We must overcome
We shall overcome
Someday—can be today
Someday—must be today
Shall someday be today?
From I, In Shades of Gray. Originally copyrighted as
Inconvenient I and Other Gray Matters by Merlin L.
Taylor, Jr. 2009.
