Your Black World: I Pledge Allegiance to Truth - By Yorri Berry

I Pledge Allegiance to Truth

By: Yorri Berry

Once upon a time I pledged allegiance

I pledged allegiance to the flag of the United States of America

And to the republic for which it stands

One nation, under God, indivisible

With liberty and justice for all

But today

Today I pledge allegiance to truth

I pledge allegiance to truth

Thus forcing the regurgitation of lies digested for years

So today I stick my revolutionary finger down my throat like a struggling bulimic

Refusing to keep toxic deceit in my purified spirit any longer

And I give you back the lies in the garbage can it should have remained in to begin with

All for justice and liberty with

Indivisible, God under, nation one

Stands it which for republic the to and

America of States United

The of flag

The to allegiance pledge I

Allegiance pledge I

Time a upon once

Upon a time

Stood I

A little caramel mocha girl in my catholic school uniform

I stood there

Watching the American flag blowing with the wind

Proud

Hand across my heart

Beating fast

Believing indeed

Having some kind of faith in this country to which I pledged allegiance

Loyalty

Faithfulness

I trusted these United States of America to be

One nation, under God, indivisible

With liberty and justice for all

Trusted it to be one nation not one nation rooted in economic & racial separation

On every application wanting to know if I’m African-American or Caucasian

Latino or Haitian

Of Indian decent of or Asian

Yet still claiming to be one nation…under God…indivisible

Embracing liberty and justice

Even then, my petite twelve year-old frame knew that something wasn’t right about me reciting those words authentically

And today, twelve years later, my liberated mind and commitment to truth won’t let me utter such a pledge and still walk away with my dignity

My reciting would be an indication of my saluting you America

And I don’t pledge allegiance to you

No, today I pledge allegiance to truth

Maybe my words make me unpatriotic but I was never a patriot anyway

And if I have to choose between being what you deem a faithful American or revolutionary in thought and deed then I’d rather bring forth revolutions of change any day

Yes I still smell the smoke that covered liberty

131 years and 19 amendments later finally deciding to move forward with the enactment of Women’s suffrage allowing women the right to vote yet still in this 2008 women still don’t receive equal pay for equal work

Yes I still smell the smoke that covered justice

Brutally beaten, shot in the head, then thrown in the Tallahatchie River with a 75 pound cotton gin tied to little 14-year old Emmett Till’s neck while his killer walked and still today the Sean Bell’s of the world can get 50 bullets put inside of him by men shooting and neglecting instead of serving and protecting and still walk away without penalty

Yes I still smell the smoke

And yes the smoke still covers the hope of the liberty and justice you claim to stand for

The oneness you claim to promote

And the only indivisibility with which I can link you to is failure to be worthy enough of my trust

I trusted you to educate my little brothers but instead of investing in his education you prepare him a cell and track him into incarceration by allowing $476 million dollars to build a new prison instead of a better school

I trusted you to do something about the 9 million American children without health care but instead you’d rather be spending billions on a war establishing democracy in foreign nations instead of fighting for egalitarianism and social equality on this American soil, this supposed land of the free you call democracy

I trusted you to heed to King’s dream and do more than deliver broken promises, a broken economy, disconnection and disregard for the fact that freedom ain’t ringing in most of the neighborhoods where the people look like me

I trusted you to make us a priority

Women, elderly, poor, minorities

I trusted you to make us a priority

Yet again you didn’t come through

So today my allegiance is pledged to truth and possessing an undying commitment agitating for liberty and justice for all

Not you America

Not you

Yorri Berry is a Katrina Survivor and a poet who has granted YourBlackWorld.com permission to offer her thought-provoking poems to the masses. Look out for more of her highly enriching poems. Click here to Contact Ms. Berry.

"I come to this with a lot of interesting talents..."Mrs. Michelle Robinson Obama

"The double jeopardy of being black and female in a racist and sexist society may well make one less afraid of the sanctions against success. A non-subservient black woman is by definition a transgressive- she is the ultimate outsider." Mamphele Ramphele

Michelle Robsison Obama is leading the way in demonstrating how we, citizens of the United States, can best advocate and support Barack Obama's pursuit of the presidency. She has no example or role model to which she can look or cull wisdom borne of their own experience.


Michelle Obama has opened her marriage, family, and life to America; for the future of our nation she has put aside her immediate life: career, volunteerism, and personal interests to invest herself in the democracy of our nation and future of the global community. While maintaining a loving supportive partnership with her husband in parenting and politics she has enthusiastically greeted supporters, staunchly listened to and graciously responded to critics, and managed to maintain a smile that reveals a sense of peace that comes from being grounded in faith.


Michelle Obama has refused to ignore the challenges that come with gender and racial bias; she like her husband have broached the topics that divide us in an endeavor to unite us. Political foes have called the Obamas delusional race baiters and others have ridiculed them for having delusions of unity in the midst of diversity. Yet, Michelle Obama has risen day after day to continue teaching us that we must dialogue even when others dismiss our ideas and ideals.

We really are 15 countries, and it's remarkable that each of us thinks we represent the real America. The Midwesterner in Kansas, the black American in Durham - both are certain they are the real American. Maya Angelou

Michelle Obama has endured the skewering of her pastor and husband. Pundits assert only neglectful or worse parents would have exposed their children to the remarks of their pastor and the reaction of some of the congregants. Yet, Michelle Obama has stood with her husband and continued their efforts to win the nomination of the Democratic Party with integrity. The continued strenth of character exhibited by Barack Obama is the result of a loving, prayerful, compassionate, and intelligent wife who not only shares his vision but has the gifts and talents to support the vision of Barack while working to manifest her dream of an America that will see her daughters more clearly than it has ever seen their dear mother or our brave foremothers.



Michelle Obama understands that to be an advocate for women does not mean she is an enemy of men. Likewise, to share her perspective on the reality of racial and gender relations in America is not refusing to acknowlede and honor the racial and gender equities that have been achieved by persons uniting into movements to create a more perfect union. She has taken this season of politics to give us eudcation on what has been, what is, and more importantly what can be America. If it is beautiful, is up to us.

Anything that is as old as racism is in the blood line of the nation. It's not any superficial thing--that attitude is in the blood and we have to educate about it. Nannie Burroughs

Michelle Obama epitomizes the greatness of America. In this nation that is a union of fifty states, comprised of innummerable ethnicities, multiple socioeconomic conditions there is the beauty of potential. Opportunity is not always equal, life is not always fair...and yet in this young nation that has changed so much and often by resistance, revolution, protest, movements, and people banding together to overcome the shortcomings. While our nation was created with documents that were based on the Magna Carta those documents marginalized women and minorities; through amendments, legislation, and other tools of modification we have dared to envision a more perfect union throughout our history.


Let us be mindful to protect the freedom of speech, including Michelle Obama's right to freedom of speech. We are the land of the free and home of the brave...America can withstand self-examination, questions, critiques, doubts, fears, lamentations. Michelle Obama is but one shining example of the possibility of our citizens to move from marginality to marvelous.

The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerence. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors, and deserves respect if not enthusiastic acceptance. - Maya Angelou

Michelle Obama...I can only speak for myself; I am a Black woman, I am educated, I am a mother of sons and daughters, I am a Christian, I am a registered voter, I am a wife, I am a sister, and much more. With all that is within me as an American, I say to you "asante sana!".