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The Tradition

Book by Jericho Brown · 3 quotes · Poetry, Poem, Death

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All Poetry Poem Death African Americans Blacks Murder Police Police Brutality Anger Anonymity Black Women Concern Danger Emmett Till Flowers Frustration Grief Happiness History Human Contact

The Tradition Quotes

“By the time the blooms Unfurl themselves for a few hours of light, the women who tend them Are already at work. Blue. I’ll never know who started the lie that we are lazy, But I’d love to wake that bastard up At foreday in the morning, toss him in a truck, and drive him under God Past every bus stop in America to see all those black folk Waiting to go work for whatever they want.”

Poetry Women Work Morning Poems Flowers Black Women African Americans Blacks Working

Book:The Tradition

Source: The Tradition

“I will not shoot myself In the head, and I will not shoot myself In the back, and I will not hang myself With a trashbag, and if I do, I promise you, I will not do it In a police car while handcuffed Or in the jail cell of a town I only know the name of Because I have to drive through it To get home.”

Death Poetry Danger Poem Murder Police African Americans Blacks Police Brutality

Book:The Tradition

Source: The Tradition

“We do not recognize the body Of Emmett Till. We do not know The boy’s name nor the sound Of his mother wailing. We have Never heard a mother wailing. We do not know the history Of this nation in ourselves. We Do not know the history of our- Selves on this planet because We do not have to know what We believe we own.”

Poetry Poem Racism Ownership African Americans Blacks Emmett Till

Book:The Tradition

Source: The Tradition