Written piece
Yes! We're Entitled
ANDREA DUGUID
Barbados
About this piece
My poem is rooted in honour of African ancestors. It is a justified demand, not for pity, not for meaningless apologies; but for recognition, not for money; but for rightful redress a wrong that after three centuries, perpetrators still deny.
Yes! We’re Entitled
Across western oceans' cold bloody waves,
In shackles of sorrow, you labelled us slaves.
From Great Mother Africa to virgin seashores,
You squeezed us together on bloodstained wood floors.
And you truly think we’re not entitled, to reparations?
The cries of our ancestors still fill the red air,
A legacy of pain we suffered to bear.
In fathomless fields, we unwillingly toiled,
Our dreams and our legacies you swiftly destroyed.
And you still believe we're not entitled, to reparations?
You, so-called colonizers with greedy demands,
Built great empires from our worn, bloody hands.
You reaped huge wealth ‘midst our deepest despair,
And justice still feels a mere, distant dare.
Yet, you deny our right to reparations?
Centuries now passed, yet old wounds still bleed.
Our quest for justice we’ll never concede.
So, acknowledge your crimes, and make wrong things right,
For healing demands that we keep up this fight.
So, we will accept nothing less, than reparations.
Countless lost souls you shackled in chains,
Our dear ancestors endured such unending pains.
But our voices still rise for what we are due,
And deep inside, you know, and you always knew:
That we are still entitled, to reparations.
by Andrea A. Duguid