WHAT IS AN AFRICAN AMERICAN? WHO IS AN AFRICAN AMERICAN? HOW OLD IS AFRICAN AMERICAN? These are a few pivotal entries in the query of the origin of the term African American. The answers to the first two are synonomous: "African Americans are the descendants of the children of the African Diaspora who inhabit the Western Hemisphere, not just the United States." To arrive at the correct age of the term African American as it is often misused today, one must deduce the age of the poem "I CAN" from which it is derived. "I CAN" was published and copyrighted in 1987. So get the correct age, start counting: 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 20006, 20007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Now you know! I CAN I Can do what my mind tells me to. I Can, so Can you. I Can streak like a Rocket through the Sky. I Can plunge to the Earth and die. I Can run and win any Race, From Inner Self to Outer Space. All I want you to understand Is that my Country and my Heritage spell “I CAN!” I Can try, and I Can cry; I Can lead, and I Can succeed. I Can trail, and I Can fail. I Can fight, and I Can Unite; I Can adopt, and I Can Stop. I Cannot hide, nor Can Apartheid! I Can write and incite. I Can bleed for my Country’s Creed. I Can defend, and I Can pretend. I Can hate, yet, I Can adjudicate! I Can give, but I Can also live. I Can contrive, and oh yeah, “I Can survive!” I Can do this, and I Can do that. All I need is a Turn at Bat. I speak of my Abilities not by Chance. Nor is it your Opinion of me that I seek to Enhance! “The last four letters of my Heritage and my Creed spell “I CAN!” I Can do Anything as well as “Everyman!” “I CAN! I CAN! I CAN!” YOU DAMN RIGHT “I CAN!” Excerpted from THE BLACK HISTORY CALENDAR (1986©™) Copyright Registration Number TX 1 929 242 “I Can, African American and Africa America” are intellectual properties of Johnny Duncan and The Black History Calendar. Any and all uses after January 1, 1987 are subject to licensing and indemnification requirements, actionable under Title 17 of the United States Code. Before I wrote this poem, there was no African American History Month; there was no Society for the Study of African American History and Life; there weren’t any African American History Museums; and, there weren’t any African American organizations. BEFORE I WROTE THIS POEM, THERE WASN’T ANYTHING NAMED AFR-I-CAN AMER-I-CAN!
Posted on: Sat, 07 Sep 2013 11:28:16 +0000
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