I can hear the steps of many,

and as I turn my face to the crowd

I can see Malcom X with one fist up yelling, ''I am black and I am proud!.''

I see Medgar Evers talking to Lorraine Hansberry

about the Raisin in the Sun and the injustice that goes on in Alabama.

I see Martin Luther King talking

amongst the crowd about the importance of his dream.

I see James Baldwin and Langston Hughes conversing about a collaboration and a new book idea. 

I see Harriet Tubman looking off at the sky, wondering if the Big Dipper will show. 

I am lying on the ground

and I do not know why.

As I lie on the ground

I see generations of great African Americans.

They began to walk by me.

Malcom X puts his fist down.

Medgar Evers and Lorraine Hansberry stopped talking.

James Baldwin and Langston Hughes put their new book talk on hold. 

MLK helped me off the ground and Harriet Tubman's eyes wandered off the sky into mines.

In unison they all said, ''Raheem! This is your history. Do not ever forget that. Do not forget the fight that flow through your veins. Be bold. Be revolutionary. Be black.'' 

They all went on their way as they dissipated into the sunset. I stood there holding my heart, promising to live a life that will honor their sacrifices that abled me to be a free Black man today.