The chains

You told me that if I dreamed hard enough and reached high enough i could be anything that I wanted to be, I could change the world. I am the animator of my own life, I choose the colours from which i paint my story. I hear the chains of my ancestors rattle against an ocean of uncertainty, Kings, Queens, member of royalty scattered across the corners of the globe. When reaching the shore their fate marked, with them being reduced to limited beings. Limited to the confinements of colour, in trespassing this confinement one must find the strength to elevate themselves. I try to dream that subliminal like dream of Martin Luther King, that escapism from the harsh reality of the black and white projection. The gradual progressive movement from slave to president, from a voice silenced for 400 years only to be projected louder than any cry. The division between black and white narrowing with the creation of a new identity, a biracial one. The move from moor to mullato, the derogatory term shifting from mullato to mixed race, from mixed race to person, and more recently one of potential royalty (Meghan Markle). An identity that is strong enough to be independent and separate from the rest, one of joining and not division. You told me that if I looked hard enough I could see the pains and beauty on both sides, the blush on my cheeks reminiscent of the red channels that flow through me. Channels that ran separate encapsulating the polar opposites (black and white), to newly transformed blood of a new generation. I guess the main point to take from all this is the strength and importance of self liberation. The strength to take the brush and paint a new story, a story that is reflective of growth and personal endeavour. A story that doesn’t neglect the shading of the hideous past but rather intensifies it. One that is reflective of its importance in shaping the future, and create the better you. I still sometimes hear these chains rattling, reminiscent of the black mans struggle and history’s shame, serving as a constant reminder that the words you told me must become my voice and my words that I tell myself.