The Entreaty of Melissa McCoy

The Entreaty of Melissa McCoy


by


Gary Marvin Davison


Note: 


Melissa McCoy is a composite, fictional character whose lament and entreaty is drawn from the experiences of the many young people with whom I have worked and whom I have loved in the course of a more than 40-year journey.


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I’m just wantin’ y’all to know
that I’m hurtin’ so bad
hurtin’ so bad
hurtin’ so bad  
hurtin’ so bad
'cause I’m beginnin’ to understand
how long it’s been
long it’s been
long it’s been.


Four hunn’ed years ago
years ago
years ago
you ripped my
great-great-great-great granny
mine
mine
mine
my
my
my
great-great-great-great-granny
from the depths of the
Bight of Benin
you took her
and
you locked her
in a cage
until the ship came
and
took her away ‘cross that
long, lonely ocean lonely ocean
lonely ocean
lonely ocean
and then took joy that she survived the
sweat
stench
urine
feces
chains
fever
blood.
You took joy
‘cause you could set her on the block
and
open her mouth
to show that her teeth
had somehow not rotted.
You pointed to her skin
and
put her naked young body
on display
in evidence
that she likely could
produce more free labor
to get your
cotton
tobacco
rice
whatever
you needed
you needed
you needed.


And ' course
you had no regard at all for
her needs
her needs
her needs.
And you kept her there
and
millions with her
millions with her
millions with her
unda the hot sun
hot sun
hot sun
but took care to place her
in the evenin’
where she could have mo’ babies,
mo’ babies
mo’ babies
and
give you pleasure
you pleasure
you pleasure
not
her pleasure
not
her pleasure
your pleasure
‘cause that’s all that ev’a matt’ed
was your pleasure
what you needed
you needed
you needed.
That’s all that ev’a matt’ed to you.


And you kept her there,
us there
her there
us there
until war broke out
for yo’ own purposes
own purposes
own purposes
but promisin’ us
freedom
that was supposed to be
as simple as
13, 14, 15.
But then you
Compromised in 1877.
And you separated us
in unequal equality
in 1896,
Till we scrambled
Northward on a Migration
to freedom
but
found none.
‘Cause y’all said,


“No, not here,
you can’t live here
here
here.
But you can live
there
there
there
'cause you got lots in common
with da
Jews
Polacks
Wops
and all."




So we waited
waited
waited
and worked
hard
hard
hard
‘til just as things seemed to be
getting’ betta
betta
betta the many
still-frustrated
still-frustrated
still-frustrated
didn’t wanna
wait no more
wait no more
wait no mo’
no mo’
no mo’
no mo’.


So there went the
stones
bricks
bats
clubs
anything handy
and the
glass cracked
store owners departed
and
mostly just us
poorest
poorest
poorest
stayed behind.


So you put us here,
And we have stayed here
stayed here
stayed here
stayed here
and
even though
you never understood us
and
never believed in us
you promised us an
education
that never came.


But
now
now
now
the time has come. 
Bernadeia
Richard, Kim, Jenny, Rebecca, Alberto, Tracine, Carla, Josh, Mohamud,
the time has come,
come,
come.
The time came a long time ago,
but the education didn’t,
so now is the time that it’s
got to come
gotta come
got to come
gotta come.


‘Cause you know that they still don’t care,
those folks who came up from the
plantation to live on
Lowry Hill
and in
Linden Hills
 ‘cause they got Blake and Breck and all those,
for what good they are,
or aren’t,
but that’s where their kids go now
while we wait for ya’ll to
do the right thing.


Bernadeia, I hear good things about you.
They say that we’re gonna learn new things
about our
great-great-great-great-grannies
and about the
Great Wall
Iroquois
Laws of Motion
Relativity
Operant conditioning
Cognitive dissonance
Id
Ego
Superego
Oedipus
Electra
Troy Maxson
Hamlet
Ma Rainey
King Lear
Joe Turner
Macbeth
Achilles
Hector
Beowolf
Caged Birds
Dreams Deferred.


So, please, Bernadeia,
you gotta
keep your word,
‘cause we want our
dreams deferred
no more
deferred no more
deferred no more
no more
no more
no more,
deferred
no more,
no mo’,
no mo’
no mo’.


We want to know about
Hindus
Muslims
Black Muslims
Nation of Islam
Jains
Buddhists
Confucians
Shintoists
Daoists
Animists
‘cause alla these is people,
all of these are people,
alla these is people,
all of these are people.


And if we understood each other
maybe we wouldn’t kill each other,
maybe my little brotha wouldn’t a taken that bullet,
my big brotha wouldn’t be in prison,
and
my big sista wouldn'ta
gotten pregnant
with a baby
while she was still a baby,
and
there wouldn’t be all that fightin’
any more---
no mo’
no mo’
no mo’.


We want to know all there is to know.
I gotta a mighty fine brain.
I’m ready for you to teach me.
So show me that you can,
now---
This school year, in 2014 and 2015, too.
Now.
We have waited a long time
for the
education
that you promised
and
we ain’t gonna wait no more.
We aren’t going to wait any more.
We ain’t gonna wait no mo’.
We aren’t going to wait any more.
We ain’t gonna wait no mo’.
We aren’t going to wait any more.


Give us our education,
so I can face my
great-great-great-great-granny
and
tell her what you won’t tell her
what you won’t tell her:


“I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I am so, so, sorry.”


But now you and I both
can sweep away all that
stench
urine
feces
chains
fever
blood.


‘Cause we’re gonna look at that
hot sun
in a whole
new way.


My future is gonna be bright,
And I ain't gonna be no
baby havin' a baby.
I'm waitin' to be woman
with a real family of my own,
and then my family will have that
education.
just like I’m gonna have mine,
now,
now,
now.




‘Cause there’s so much I wanna know
want to know
wanna know
want to know,
and
will know
will know
will know.


I will be what I want to be
what I wanna be
what Melissa want to be
wanna be
want to be
and
will be
because
at long last I will have my,
Melissa will have her.
we will have our


EDUCATION.