POET
Ms. Crockett is a Christian single mother of two daughters who has written creatively since her childhood. Two of her early poems won first place in a citywide (Washington, D.C.) contest for Human Kindness Day in the early 1970's. She enjoys using rhythm, rhyme and alliteration in her writing as she addresses a spectrum of issues from the mundane: "Ride-On Ride" (a bus ride) to the controversial: "Death Penalty". Other poems cover current social concerns: "My Name is `Nicole'" is a poem about domestic violence, "I live in a hole in the street" deals with homelessness. Occasionally she will venture into the abstract: "We interrupt this program" explores the cancellation of an entire day!
FACING MY FAMILY TREE
One night, my mother came to me
to tell me about slavery.
So she sat down with me in bed
And put some thoughts into my head.
I learned about my family tree
from something that my dad told me.
He called my great-grandmother "white"
and I thought, "that's why mommy's light".
The paper had a story on
a Chief Native American,
my ancestor of long ago...
How many "great"s? I just don't know.
I was raised with other "Blacks"
Who were not given all the facts.
Although I'm sure these things are true,
there was one thing I never knew:
The things my parents said to me
Were never spoken publicly,
And to this day some will insist
That we have blood that is not mixed.
On paperwork, we were taught
to check that box without a thought.
In doing so, I had rejected
People to whom I'm connected
Because they're Indian or white?
No one really has the right...
Why should I have to choose one set
Of relatives I've never met?
-Cheryl L. Crockett
April 20, 1994
- reprinted with permission from the author