Amadou Diallo Poem by Phillip Nine Mafunga

An African sojourn to the land of opportunities
The Bronx I have only read about in the story books
New York City whose nights are too dark for black men
February 4,1999 a hungry African immigrant decided to take a night stroll to the McDonalds'
In whom a clever white foolish cop saw a potential rapist
And there in the street lay Amadou Diallo's body riddled with 41 KKK bullets

Black man knows no peace on this planet
The broken family system has seen him out in the cold streets
In the unforgiving streets, he is ducking crime and bullets alike
On the continent, thugs in government have run him out of his possession
Corruption, hunger, and disease the governing tools of oppression by them
Depriving the black man of all his self-worth and pride

Amadou Diallo is me
Amadou Diallo is you
Amadou Diallo is the blackness deep inside of us
They gunned him down as they have always throughout the centuries
Corralled us into self-pity and hate
And boy, have we self-destroyed as a result!
Amadou Diallo, the victim in all of us black nations!
PHILLIP NINE MAFUNGA
25 May 2020