The Story of Blackness

R. Josiah Golson

What is this Story?
The Story of Blackness?

Who authors it, with
the ink of improvisation?

Who builds it, with Brick, Wood, Glass, and Mortar?

Who shares it, with the words of known and unknown ancestors
and the faith in an Obsidian Future? 

Who sings it, in sounds of Joy, and sounds of sorrow? 

Who carries it on? Through the Days, Years, Generations?

What is this Story?
The Story of the Blues? 

How does a Voice of such loss carry such wealth? 

Can it be sold, traded, or exploited into an empire?

Do you witness the Story on this Street, down the Road, 
in the shadows of bars and buildings with no memory?

In the noises of tonight’s Street, can you hear the laughs, the voices,
the shouting, the singing of Blue Goose Hollow?

Do you know where they went? 

This is Our Story

The Story of Blackness.
The Story of the Blues. 

Authored by Our Ancestors, 
Sung by Bessie Smith, 
and Surviving still Today. 

And now standing on this 
Sacred, Lost, and Enduring Ground, 

May you take the charge to hold
this Story and honor it, 

Until You return to the Ground 
of which Our Story Sings.