Poem: Jesus And The Black Body

Linda Wiggins-Chavis, also known as L.A. Justice

Photos: Twitter\Drew University

The following poem Jesus and The Black Body was written by Linda Wiggins-Chavis, also known as L.A. Justice.

Arms and legs of burnished bronze

Carried our sorrows

Saved us from sin

Oppressed and afflicted

Despised and rejected

Betrayed by one

Tortured by all

 

“Crucify him” they yelled

Thorns in his head

Welts on his back

Mocked and beaten

Marred and disfigured

No longer human

Lamb to the slaughter

Nailed to the cross

 

Took up our infirmities

Pierced for our iniquities

Water and blood

By whose stripes we are healed

Died like a criminal

Committed no crime

 

Christ crucified

Cried out in pain

Poured out his life

Gave up his spirit

Body goes silent

He can’t breathe

 

Beautiful Black bodies

Drowning in sorrow

From America’s sin

Oppressed and afflicted

Despised and rejected

 

Betrayed by the system

Tortured by the badge

“Get down” they yell

Bullets in our back

Knees on our necks

 

Mocked and beaten

Marred and disfigured

We are still human

Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd

Lambs to the slaughter

Nailed in a coffin

America’s racist infirmities

Killed for its inequities

Water and blood

 

By whose stripes are we healed?

Dying like criminals

“Hands up, don’t shoot”

Black bodies tormented

Crying out in pain

Life pouring out

Diminishing our spirit

Bodies go silent

We can’t breathe

Linda Wiggins-Chavis is a writer, activist, theologian and biochemist currently teaching middle school science.

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