About The Matter of Black



About The Matter of Black



Black matters when…
You’re a Nubian gladiator owned by cowardly Commodus
You’re a character in Assassin’s Creed Rebellion
It’s a colour making money for somebody.


You’re Jesse Owens humiliating Aryan Germany
But not…
You’ve raised a black-gloved fist during the US national anthem


You’re the Aryan asserting supremacy over all things Dravidian
You’re bhakts of the fair god vanquishing the Rakshasas and Asuras
But not when…
A south Indian 'Kaalu' transforms India into a nuclear power
You’re enslaved and bedecked in chains being shipped by Colston
From the Dark Continent to working the plantations of the Deep South
Labour for free forever


You are, because of your visceral hatred of the power of black
The kaffir is inferior to the Indian, in the eyes of Mohandas Gandhi
You’re Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela – dreaming
Every man the master of his fate; the captain of his soul
But not when…
It’s the colour that gets you lynched from Mississippi to Mathura
You want to sow your oats or, satisfy your lust then, deny your progeny.

Hidden Figures help land a white man on the Moon
Tuskegee Airman in their Red Tails sanitize the skies of Aryans.
But not when…
Aborigines are robbed of their children
To be indoctrinated in the ways of the white man.
Tribal youth are cannon fodder in Kargil or, Pulwama


You’re Naomi Campbell selling a million copies of Vogue
Or, walking the runway for Victoria’s Secret
You're scrutinizing the classifieds for your Fair and Lovely bride
But not when…
It’s the skin colour of your maid, not your daughter.
Or, saree clad rocket women leading India into space.


You’re an Afro-American named George Floyd begging to breathe
You’re Sushant Singh Rajput, an extremely talented
But fair skinned victim of depression
But not when…
Your birth is a fatal accident called Rohit Vemula
You’re a Congolese or Ugandan victim of vigilantes in Delhi
You’re Surekha Bhotmange…Surekha Who?


It's coal that fuelled the Industrial Revolution
That built your business empire
It's the colour of your money you're hiding from the taxman
He is the African dictator ‘investing’ in your offshore haven
It's the colour of your suit and tie announcing you've arrived
Or, the colour of the exquisite pearls adorning your wife’s necklace
But not when…
It’s soot on the face of slaving miners or, the colour of an oil spill
Or it’s the colour of water flowing in the Yamuna.


From Black everything grows…
Eighty five percent of the universe is Dark Matter
Just because you don’t see…you can’t ignore it.
Without darkness, we would not know light
Without night, there would be no new day


Without black…white has no meaning.
Like Yin and Yang - one without the other,
So, everything and everyone black matters.
It's all relativity.


©2020 Ranjan Kamath

Comments

Most Popular

Photo Gallery on Pbase.com

Photo Gallery on Pbase.com
Surya Kiran Aerobatic Display