Some of my Best Friends are Black

Posted on 2023-06-19 by Bartholomew Barker

My oldest Black friend is George Moses Horton,
earning a pittance for his love poetry
from privileged UNC students despite being enslaved.

Then there’s Paul Laurence Dunbar, a fellow Buckeye,
though I can’t read his work in the Negro dialect at an open mic
without sounding like I’m wearing blackface.

I’ve risen with Maya Angelou.
I’ve celebrated with Lucille Clifton.
I’ve sung America with Langston Hughes.
I’ve been real cool with Gwendolyn Brooks.
And I’ve listened to the blueblack cold
splinter with Robert Hayden.

Okay, I admit I don’t have any “real” Black friends,
I have acquaintances, co-workers, even some fellow living poets
but no one I would ask to help me move out of my third floor walk-up.

It’s a problem— it’s my problem
and it’s mine alone to solve.

(For Juneteenth and this week’s Living Poetry Prompt.)

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About Bartholomew Barker

Bartholomew Barker is an organizer of Living Poetry, a collection of poets in the Triangle region of North Carolina where he has hosted a monthly feedback workshop for more than decade. His first poetry collection, Wednesday Night Regular, written in and about strip clubs, was published in 2013. His second, Milkshakes and Chilidogs, a chapbook of food inspired poetry was served in 2017. He was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2021. Born and raised in Ohio, studied in Chicago, he worked in Connecticut for nearly twenty years before moving to Hillsborough where he lives and writes poetry.
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18 Responses to Some of my Best Friends are Black

  1. trE's avatar trE says:
    2023-06-19 at 21:20

    🙏🏾💙

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. Susi Bocks's avatar Susi Bocks says:
    2023-06-19 at 22:17

    Admitting a problem is the first step to its resolution. Good, Bart!

    Liked by 1 person

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  3. JeanMarie's avatar JeanMarie says:
    2023-06-20 at 02:06

    From the risky attention grabbing title, all the links, and vulnerability of the ending, this is really good work. You are certainly not the only one with this problem.

    Liked by 1 person

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  4. luisa zambrotta's avatar luisa zambrotta says:
    2023-06-20 at 06:39

    💙💙💙💙💙

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. berniebell1955's avatar berniebell1955 says:
    2023-06-20 at 07:15

    It can be a lot to do with where you grew up – and your social background.

    I grew up as a working class person in a big city – Bradford, Yorkshire – that made it easy. My group of friends were a mixed bunch of people – Irish (me) , Scots, Ukrainian, Indian, Malaysian, English.

    Not so easy for someone from a different background to that.

    How many folks from other cultures are in the same situation – only vice-versa?

    I’m not sure if it’s a ‘problem’ – or just how things are.

    Liked by 1 person

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  6. berniebell1955's avatar berniebell1955 says:
    2023-06-21 at 04:43

    I’ve rambled about seeing people as ‘other’ – many times….

    When People Put People ‘Outside The Pale’ – Outside Society

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  7. berniebell1955's avatar berniebell1955 says:
    2023-06-21 at 06:32

    PS

    I was thinking more along the lines of – can it be seen as a problem in you – as you are aware and don’t let it take you with it? Something like that.

    It’s definitely a problem in the world…

    Relativity for Beginners

    If East is East
    And West is West
    Then where, my dear, is here?
    It’s North of South
    And South of North
    And far from nowhere near.

    If Then was Now
    Then tell me how
    Tomorrow never comes?
    And some time soon
    Today has gone
    And the future’s not begun.

    If I to You
    Am you, not me
    Then tell me who are we?
    To them, they’re us
    And we are they
    To us, we’re me and thee.

    So Where and When
    And who you are
    Depends on where you stand
    So take another
    Point- of-view
    And join me hand-in-hand.

    McB

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