Jiggaboo Jane

Political and Socially Conscious Free Verse Poetry

Black History Challenge

Poem #6

Jiggaboo Jane
Was also ashamed
Of her Blackness
Nevertheless
It was something
She wouldn't claim
Just like her cousin
Jiggaboo Jenkins
She too was thinking
That the "one drop" rule
Was cruel and unusual
Punishment which meant
That she wasn't going
To live her life as
A Negro either
So,
When she was
Grown she disowned
Her father who was Haitian
As she hastened her
Exodus from his life
She wanted no part
Of Civil Rights or
Protesting
She considered it a
Blessing to be considered
Caucasian
Like her mother
So on the Application
Of Life she would choose
White or "Other"
As her Light Skin and
Light Eyes
Was the perfect
Disguise
To conceal her lie
So when she decided
To marry her true love Barry
The results became very scary
Especially when her baby came
Out with dark skin
Their lives came to a tragic end
As the deception
Also needed correction
As Barry buried

Both of them
In shallow graves
For deceiving him

020060002021 Nefarious J. Dorsey©

Author's Note

This is not a chopped up essay as one reviewer stated as this assessment is incorrect. This is " Free Verse Poetry" that is "Political" and "Socially Conscious" in nature that comes from my experiences as an African American in the U.S and from issues that have made the news. I welcome reviews as long as they are respectful because " we can agree to disagree" that is how we all can grow.

The "one-drop" rule is a social and legal principle of racial classification that was historically prominent in the United States in the 20th century. It asserted that any person with even one ancestor of black ancestry ("one drop" of black blood) is considered black (Negro or colored in historical terms).
Free verse is a literary device that can be defined as poetry that is free from limitations of regular meter or rhythm, and does not rhyme with fixed forms
Jiggaboo-Used as a disparaging term for a black person.

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

When the mix was unaccepted, and those had to try to pass for white.
That was such a sad time...now we seem to be all in some melting pot...interracial pregnancies introducing children who can relate to both colors...
in my college days in the sixties there was that stigma when interracial couples were together. "Oh my what about the children?" Many would say....as if neither side would accept them. But there shouldn't be sides....there are just people...we mix, we reproduce, we become one...
no shame...there needs to be joy...just joy and love.
j.

[Jerome F Knox III pseudonym Nefarious J. Dorsey]

I always love your insight and it gives me further validation that I am on the correct path of speaking the truth...thank you again for your wisdom!