Celebrate Black Poetry Day with "Now We Are Green, Our Touch is Green" by Litha Sovell

In honor of Black Poetry Day, today's post shares a poem written by Litha Sovell of the Green Belt Movement in Tanzania. The holiday was enacted to celebrate Jupiter Hammon, considered the first published black poet in the United states. He was born October 17, 1711.

We came from the East, red as we are
We came from the West, white as we are
We came from the South, black as we are
Now we are green, our touch is green

Now we know, green is something
Now we know, seeds are valuable
Now we know, seeds are trees
Now we are green, our touch is green

Soil is life, we know of it
Soil is wealth, we have a lot of it
Soil is gold, we keep it forever
Now we are green, our touch is green

Now we know, grabbing land is evil
Now we know, land is for all
Now we know, land is for prestige
Now we are green, our touch is green

Now we know, we are all brothers
Now we know, we are all sisters
Now we know, we share the earth
Now we know, our touch is green

Thanks for coming, now we are going
Thanks for seeds, which are patent-free
Now we can plant our seeds all over
Now are green, our touch is green

Now we are leaders, we lead our people
Now we are people, people of action
Now we are planters, we tell the people
Now we are green, our touch is green

Let us unite, speak the same
Let us unite, tell we are living
Let us unite, enjoy our wealth
Now we are green, our touch is green

We didn’t know Kenya, Tanzania are ours
We didn’t know Ghana, Uganda are ours
We didn’t know Zimbabwe, Ethiopia are ours
Now we know our touch is green

Goodbye we say, we know it is not over
We wish to stay, but our people need us
We are in a hurry, seedlings are ready
Now we are green, our touch is green

—Litha Sovell – GBM Tanzania, November 1998

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Like this post? Stop by and read "Wangari Maathai: Founder of the Green Belt Movement, Nobel Prize Winner." Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977 and mobilized women to plant nearly 30 million trees. She was the first woman from Africa honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 and the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree.

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