This FBA Madness

August 2, 2025

I doubt I will adopt this new race name –
This Foundational Black American
Madness. I qualify, all my people,
African and home-born, were present
At the emancipation – I grew up
Hearing stories about bondage, escapes –
Tall tales, myths that forged our identity
In steel and fire, the red clay of our souls.

It never occurred to me that I was owed
Anything but the chance to prove my worth.
Sunk costs, they say, are sunk – slavery’s debt
Was zeroed, every account wiped clean.
No government check can change history,
Nor atone for the crimes of the founders.