The back of your hand can never be sweeter than
the palm of your hand.
-- Asante Proverb
African and American Pooverbs |
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by James Hammond,Sr., Ph.D. |
Ntjapeli ha ke phokojoe-
Two dogs will not be overcome
by a jackal.
[two heads or better than one]
- Basotho Proverb
When two elephants fight, it is only
the grass that suffers.
- Asante Proverb
The seeds of today are the flowers
of tomorrow.
- Asante Proverb
Not to know is bad, but to refuse
to know is worse.
- Gambian Proverb
A person who kicks his own dog
should not complain, nor be surprised,
if someone else kicks him too.
- Zulu Proverb
Anticipate the good so that you
may enjoy it.
- Ethiopian Proverb
He who upsets a thing should
know how to rearrange it.
- Sierra Leonean Proverb
Freedom
You cannot detain a spirit or incarcerate a soul, certainly not because it is contained in skin that is saturated with color ebony, ink, coal.
The spirit must soar to illuminate the globe but must not forget its ancestral hue, nor be bound by discord, intolerance, hate, ... not if freedom is to ensue.
Sienna sisters, mahogany brothers, walnut, and chestnut tone pigments must unite sending a communal spirit to battle, is the only way to win the fight.
A harmonious alliance of coppers and bronze, sable and coffee tinted skin, their flesh is merely a reflection, of the spirit that emanates from within.
The unfaded spirit must detach, and emblazon the earth with its fire, Its festive dance must serve to free, solidify, and inspire. Cinnamon, sorrel, cocoa, reset, tinge the world with our glow, through your spirit, tyranny dies and it is your heart, not your skin, they will know.
- Renata Hammond-
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About the Author
James M. Hammond, Sr., Ph.D.
Chairman of the Psychology Department
Columbia Union College
Takoma Park, MD
Husband, father, grandfather,
teacher,cleric, international speaker
The poem on this page was written
by his daughter, Renata
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