And The Winners Are....

This is the Oscar belated
to the great Black actors of the Thirties
who didn't roll ltheir eyes
and sling their hips
and shuffle
and say yassuh boss
with a smile as wide as a watermelon,

who walked away from the money
(it wasn't much)
and starved,

who said no to the part
(it wasn't big)
and gave up the one chance,

the dream
(the hopeless dream)
of personal recognition,

because they knew,
give priase they knew,
that cavorting on a screen
twenty feet high and fifty across,
in full sight on that broad white screen,
was a giant betrayal,
not just of self,
but of a whole people,
and beneath contempt.

They chose instead to walk upright,
away from the bright lights
and down the long dark road
cobbled in forgotten names.

And so tonight we honor them,
the unseen,
the anonymous,
the great Black stars
who are gone with the wind.