Magnolia Literacy Project Spotlight: Lana Brown Series
Poet, Lana Brown, writes often about her roots in historic Natchez, Mississippi. "...Back in the Daze" is a celebration of ancestry, family, friendship, love, learning, and growth in the Bluff City.
Brown is a graduate of Alcorn State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in English Communications; a Master of Arts in Secondary English Education; and a Master of Arts in Early Childhood Education with a Concentration in Reading and Gifted Education. She also holds a Specialist in Education degree in Psychometry from Jackson State University. An instructor in gifted education with the Natchez Adams School District, Brown was selected by the Mississippi Department of Education to be a member of the ELA/Literacy High Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) Review Team in the fall of 2020.
"... Back in the Daze"
A switch was a household staple
The backhand, a natural instinct
The whipping is a prescription
Called “Get Right”
A part of the parents’ regular workout routine
The corner is the spot for the broom, mop, or trashcan
Not for a misbehaving child in need of a break from reality
We understood hard core
No sugar coatin’ nothin’
Trained to be very in touch with the real
No fairy tales
or happily ever afters
That’s called a miracle
A whipping is like a sentence
The parent is the judge, jury, and executioner
Whole interrogation while the sentence is delivered
Restaurants parking lots are rarely full
Momma knew how to work that wrist
Cooking full course meals at home
The neighbor is family
Everybody in the hood a counselor
Misbehaving chaps
Community property
Kinship
Everybody cousins
Family tree just obsolete
So many secrets
Shared just among us
Our brother & sisters keepers
Running next door to get
Sugar, bread, salt meat, tissue paper…
Whateva
Cuz next door is an extension of the family
Ownership of each other
The whole choir singing on key
Even those not singing included in the fold
This boat sinks or swims ….
Together
Proud of a common connection
A tribe, a lineage beyond comprehension
When one fell, all fell
Getting up together
Showing them haters
A united front
No matter how bad we quibblin’ on the inside
A puzzle taken apart continuously …
But God ALWAYS put us back together
To pass the baton to future generations
Thinking BEYOND the challenge
Ensuring victory
Maybe not today, but imminently
Cuz we used to waiting
Nothing comes easy
A future for the unseerers
Guaranteed by bent backs
Who invested in LONGEVITY
Welcome to the future
Of Past Legends and Legends
Who have yet to be created
Who are waiting in the wings
To pounce on hard fought opportunities
Godspeed
We are the Rams
who forged a way to
Our future
Creating leaders
Who inherited our grit and determination
Instilling in them our rambunctious spirit
To overcome, to imagine, to conquer
To believe
That a person from a small, inconsequential place
Can be a Giant
ANYWHERE
No small feat
But we are no strangers to miracles
We saved our grace
For Better Days
Now, the time to celebrate
Survival of our identity
Our pride intact
We live
In our parents, our children, grandchildren, our community
In the World
Putting Natchez, Mississippi on the map
Entrepreneurs, Managers, Engineers, Teachers, Doctors, Lawyers
Whatever We wanted to be
We became
Demanding Respect
Because it was Due
We sacrificed like the Rams that we are
It was OUR time and we Earned the right
To see THIS day
A day to Celebrate
Our Beginning Together
Our Defeats
Our Victories
Embracing our Roots
Connecting our Origin
For the beginning determines the end
Gatekeepers of dreams, indiscretions, most painful memories
We are One
We Are Inseparable
One year in a decade
A time designated and set aside Just for us
By our Savior
A year yielding the best crop
We are the Mighty, Mighty Rams
The Class of 1982
A tiny statistic
Born in a small place
On the north side of town
When……
Making a lot of noise
In an era
When our kind was unappreciated
Yet….
Our light shone brilliantly
For we carried the light
Of our Ancestors
With So much Pride
A Pride that broke the chains of servitude
For We recognized that the Genius lived in us
And Refused to Acquiesce
Rising from the loins of Kings and Queens
We reign then and now
Demanding respect and recognition of our new heritage
Unapologetically
For we knew our Worth
Had been underestimated
Tasked with a duty to prove our value
Those tarnished were polished
Those of us who were already shining
Shone more brilliantly
Like diamonds in the deepest, darkest part of the ocean
Because we understood the assignment
We love, we bicker, we fight
But in the end,
We win;
We survived
Every obstacle
Walked into our destiny
Like the rams that we are
We forged a way
Out of NO way
For we know that we are nothing without each other
The sun NEVER sets with us
Green and gold
Our favorite flavor
For it is the recipe
That made us who we are
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initiative to showcase the writing and art
of Mississippians.
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