Your Hope Is tangible

Tribes, cultures and languages

from a single expansive continent,

you are children of Africa,

who endured the abominable.

On this morning, you see

the sun rise as you have

on countless other days.

You know its light and its heat.

It is the same sun that shines

on your homeland, the land most

of you know because the elders

faithfully share their memories

so you will embody the truth

of your identity and heritage.

Before the sun sets on this day,

you witness the universe’s moral arc

bend slightly towards justice

with a single announcement.

Upon hearing the words,,

the earth shakes

beneath your feet

as you experience

a profound change of paradigm.

You are immersed in awe

as joyous tears freely flow

among the previously enslaved

And the community celebrates

the collective awakening

from a living nightmare,

the ending of chattel slavery.

Breathing is sweeter

in the Texas heat

on this nineteenth day

of June in 1865.

Your body, mind and soul

begin to absorb it.

Hope is tangible.

Your hope is tangible.

You are free.