You Know Who I Am....... The following essay is an excerpt from my blog, BeautifulAdonis from 2006, as written by Khephra Burns. I have noted it to reflect my own life. I found a way to speak from my being through Mr. Burns words. Inspired and presented during Essence Magazines celebration during the “Essence 25” speech for women of color, delivered by Oprah Winfrey, written by Khephra Burns. Man, look at me! Not even one month old and calling for a revolution. Truth be told, I was a revolution. Im 53 now. A man of my time. A product of my own generation. I know who I am. I was conceived in the struggle, when Black Power and the Freedom Movement mated in a hotbed of social unrest. When I was born in the dawn of the new decade I cried,Black is beautiful! Brotherhood is powerful! I had emerged full-grown, the real Adonis. And had a nine-inch Afro to prove it. Fact is, I was fine, and for the first time, I knew it. Knew that I was stunning in all my licorice-black, cocoa-brown, caramel and cafe-au-lait skin tones. I turned 400 years of pain into pride as for the first time I was loving the soft contours of my African nose, my full, luscious lips and the ample, round behind that Black women call my onion `cause it brings tears to their eyes. Said I had more English in the small of my back than Webster had in the dictionary. But never mind English. Habari Gani, sister. Habari Gani, brother. In the `70s we had decided to speak Swahili. . .and you were going to liberate some of this good lovin in the name of the revolution. But then, when I turned to wage the struggle on the gender front, the revolutionary fire and rhetoric just went right out of you. Mmm hmm. Its all right here in the book. My diary for the last 53 years. Oh, I know you loved me. How could you help yourself, when I was too beautiful to be ignored, too determined to be denied, much too outspoken to be seen and not heard, and otherwise just too marvelous for words? Back then they called me Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Cassius Clay. That was me who marched into Atlantic City and told the Democratic Convention I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I had a history of tired in my bones. Not the kind of tired that makes you want to sit down, but makes you want to get up. I was the voice of the Black revolution. I was a Black candidate for president too. They called me a nervy so-and-so, a troublemaker, a subversive. Reverend Jesse Jackson. Ive been called a lot of things lately -- congressman, surgeon general, secretary of energy, mayor and more. At 53 Im a Renaissance man, already a legend in my prime. Forgive me if I boast a bit, but I am an Emmy-winning, Oscar-copping, Grammy-grabbing, Pulitzer Prize poet and Nobel Laureate, beloved. My word, yes, Im bookish. On everybodys bestseller list. Seems like all my best conjure comes out in words. Words that cast spells like the songs of Solomon, like jazz. Words that possess the secret of joy. I know you know me. I was that sass-mouthed colored boy on Broadway who couldnt just sing a nice somewhere-over-the-rainbow song. I spoke for the tree and the rock and the river when morning dawned and a rallying pulse kept hope alive in America. My byline alone would fill a volume or two. Im Langston Hughes and Gregory Hines. I’m Harry Belefonte and Bill Cosby. Look me up sometime, Im in the book. Ive gone from Motown to Tinseltown, but Ive never forgotten where I came from. I went from lead singer supreme to Hollywoods first leading man in a big-screen Black love story. I’m Billy Dee. But I havent forgotten that back before my time Bill Robinson could only dance in the movies. Ive given my own talent a two-thumbs-up, `cause 53 years of raves right here say brother acts, in Raisin in the Sun and Sounder, Malcolm X and The Color Purple. You saw my name when the credits rolled. Im Sidney Poitier, Brock Peters, and Wesley Snipes and Denzel Washington and Danny Glover. I’m Blair Underwood and Robert Townsend. Im Spike Lee. Im a Hollywood mogul and an entertainment empire. Im Puff Daddy. I’m Kanye West. Ive had to orchestrate my own fanfare for 53 years, so forgive me if I toot my horn for another chorus or two. But from R&B to pop, from rap to rock, everything I touch turns to gold. Ive battled my way into the opera houses. I sing jazz. I am jazz. And my song is simply unforgettable. You know me. But just for the record, Im Nat King Cole and Ray Charles, Jackie Wilson and Eddie Kendricks, Prince and Michael Jackson. Im Bobby Short, Marvin Gaye and Donny Hathaway. And oh, by the way, I run the company now, too. Say you didnt catch my name? Im Berry Gordy, Jr. Olympic in stride and epic in my progress, I have triumphed in every field of endeavor. Im the fastest man in the world, the president of a Fortune 500 company and a space-shuttle astronaut. Im Michael Jordan, Mr. Johnson, thank you, and your friendly Superman. Like an Afro-American Express card, Im everywhere you want to be. I stole the runways of Paris and redefined fine as a tall, breathtaking, dark-skinned silouette. I am a fashion statement. Heres my book. Im Kristian Alexis Perry. And my look? 53 years ago, my `do was all picks and `fros and Afro-puffs. But today you might see me straightened, braided, bald, twisted, dyed or locked in a dreadful headful, all woolly woven down around my strong brown shoulders. Yeah Baby. Just so theres no mistaking my identity, I am free, Black and 53, independent of mind and centered in the spirit. I know who I am. Im only telling you `cause I think you should know who youre dealing with. But mine is an open book, a public diary. I didnt write it to read you. I love you. Say, brother and sister, look here, youve even got your own page, to tell me whats in your heart. I tell you whats in mine. Over the last 53 years I have soared and stumbled, but always forward. Im only 53, but Ive been around, and Ive been there. . . for you, my sister, and for you, my brother, all along. You know me, IM BLACK, AND IM BEAUTIFUL.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 00:39:59 +0000
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