Ode to English Professors

by Marie Brown

Woke from a bad dream turned nightmare

The professors at Texas Southern University were murdered

Their commitment was like the foundation of a building 

They were gatekeepers to mind templates

They were the musical backup singers who gave lead vocalists their vocal cords

Murdered

How would George Washington Carver’s peanut oil pristine records be written 

If it were not for his English courses

Murdered

What was Thurgood Marshall’s closing argument for Brown vs Board of Education 

If it were not a pillar from his critical analysis Literature courses

Murdered

What if Martin Luther King’s speech, “I Have a Dream” was never written without his

Knowledge influenced by his Literary readings

Murdered

Where would Toni Morrison have captured the identity of her characters 

If it were not inspired by her Literary experience thus awarded a Pulitzer Prize

Murdered

Today’s government erased Black historical documents from the internet

Murdered

Banning of ethnic books from libraries

Murdered

Texas school libraries converted to detention halls in predominately Black neighborhoods

Murdered

What if the last cry for help was

“Misssspppelled, Misspronounccced, and forrrrgottten”

Would it be called…a murder?