What I Long For

I long for the day when  
it is common place  
not to discount the contributions  
of “other than white”  
 
The day when history is inclusive  
stories of merit and valor  
not reduced to one sentence  
fully explain a people’s plight  
 
A day when we hear about  
those sport leagues created  
when in others we couldn’t play
the contests given their due  
 
The Negro League but one  
example of many  
athleticism of splendid quality  
the stories will not be new  
 
To the children who don’t  
know of Jim Thorpe  
Satchel Paige or Kurt Flood  
trailblazers of a highest kind  
 
When we understand the  
consequences of segregation  
Jim Crow, end of Reconstruction
some erase them from the minds
 
When it no longer has to shown  
that woman was the first  
and still barriers exist  
a token was put in place  
 
That any woman can achieve  
her highest calling  
is accepted for her own merit
not ridiculed for that space  
 
I am not saying get rid of the months when we celebrate  
accomplishments of value  
crashing in the status quo  
 
Rather not placing one or two  
on a pedestal others can’t reach  
the ladder extended  
so that others can still go