(Prayer offered on the Public Address and intranet systems for the entire La Salle Academy educational community on Monday morning, 26 February 2018—Black History Month)

Let us remember we are in the holy presence of a loving God…

Given the introduction of these poems throughout the span of this month, I’ve decided to read a piece named “These Poems” by June Jordan.

“These poems

they are things that I do

in the dark

reaching for you

whoever you are

and

are you ready?

 

These words

they are stones in the water

running away

 

These skeletal lines

they are desperate arms for my longing and love.

 

I am a stranger

learning to worship the strangers

around me

 

whoever you are

whoever I may become.”

 

When I first read this poem it struck me as very subtle but also very powerful. Poems are meant to reach out to you and connect you to the poet as if you were next to them while he or she was writing it. A sense of freedom and liberation should come to mind as you hear these prayers or poems because that was their intended purpose. Poems represent the free nature of putting a pencil down to paper without having anyone else to tell you what to write or how to write it.

As Black History Month comes to an end, let us remember that these poems and prayers are calls to freedom from a population that has been historically marginalized for generations. We must uplift their narratives, we must derive lessons from the words they have bestowed onto us. As a society, the only way we can move forward is by looking back and analyzing our own history.

Let us pray,

God, we say thank you for those who shared throughout the course of Black History Month. Let the impact of these poems and prayers remain within the hearts of those at La Salle Academy and let us ensure that the efforts of those who fought for the cultivation of Black History Month have not been done so in vain.

 

St. John Baptist de La Salle, pray for us.

Live Jesus in our hearts, forever

Kenny Demola–Class of 2018