Authenticity
Marilyn Buck
[This poem is read by Chrystos. 
]
On Brooklyn streets
young Black man in baggy pants
hanging off his ass
you can’t see ‘cause
the shirt comes to his knees
baseball cap sidewise
Nike Air walk distinctive
to himself
in Ft. Lee, Jersey suburbteen
wears phat looks too
baggy pants by Hilfiger
Air Jordans, Yankee cap
knows all the rapper’s raps
feels ghetto cool
though never been to New York Avenue
but knows he’s authenticated
he gangsta raps and slaps high fives
dunks, his walk broke down
straight off TV
nobody can tell him he’s not real
he’s not around
when Black brothers bleed,
beaten to the ground
for their authenticity
September 2002.
Chrystos also reads her own “Honor Dance for the Four Winds.”
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poems © the authors
compilation © The Freedom Archives
