I Testify Life is Forever: Growing Up in the Deep South - Poems and Short Stories

By Curtis Malcolm Monroe Sr.

About the Book
I Testify Life Is Forever is a collection of works from one Black man’s experience growing up in the Deep South of Alabama. A powerful look into the Deep South Black community and racial tensions, Curtis Malcolm Monroe Sr.’s prose and verse provide a raw, real perspective on the state of America and the lack of liberty and justice for all.
About the Author
Curtis Malcolm Monroe Sr. was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1951. He spent much of his youth living in an old shanty house with his single mother and five siblings. He and his siblings would chop wood for heat, eat wild game they caught for their mother to cook, and worked in the cotton fields. When she received enough money, his mother moved their family to a new town, and Monroe went on to graduate from Carver High School, class of 1970, the last class of all Black students. He and his brother went on to join the USAS during the Vietnam War. After the military, Monrow was married and had two sons. After his divorce, he went back to school. Now retired, he spends most of his time writing poems, short stories, and creating art.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company
• Release date: Feb 19, 2024
• ISBN: 9798890277701

Book preview

Where Have All the Americans Gone?

I welcome you to Mexico Springs; the city of Union Springs is under siege. The City Council is at each other’s throats. The mayor spent his time trying to grab a woman’s butt. Gang members are shooting up the streets, young girls are selling their bodies while law enforcement sleeps. Meanwhile, people we have never seen before are now controlling the streets. Selling pinatas on South Main Street while their children run wild at the grocery stores. To all the Black people who live in Mexico Springs, our name has been changed. Buddy is our name now. Disrespected just to buy gas and beer. Most of us don’t say a thing. We don’t worship the Monkey God Rat and creepy things. We worship a Living God. It’s a shame to see you do the things you do lining up to kiss their asses.

We as Black people have been pushed enough that we refused to be pushed any more. Make fun of me and call me stupid and dumb. American! That’s who I am! When it’s all said and done, how many Americans will be left? If you want someone to blame, look in the mirror and you will see yourself. See no evil, see nothing. Hear no evil, hear nothing. Speak no evil, speak nothing. Tomorrow morning, we will see the sunrise. The wind will blow like it always has; thousands of people will still pass away. It will not matter if I like you or not. It will not matter what I think of you, but what you think of me. Arrogant and racist. That is who you are. Who taught you to hate people you don’t even know? Maybe that briefing you got down at the rattlesnake church doesn’t work anymore. Maybe you should go back and get bit some more. I got some advice for you. You come to my country, but you don’t pay any taxes, but I do. I wish I was in Dixie. Hooray! Hooray! Look away, Dixieland. What used to be Dixie, ain’t no more! Where have all the Americans gone? I hear the Rio Grande has dried up. It has been rerouted behind a local hardware store. Maybe all the Americans should pack up and move to the Mexico. Soon, in Alabama there will not be any more room for you or for me to live. Only for people who have a red dot in the middle of their head. I wish, I wish, I was in Dixie. Look away. Look away. Dixie is gone and won’t be back. Who is gonna fight in the next Civil War? Look away, look away. Dixie is gone.

Maybe when the City Council gets their ducks in a row, they will get a red dot in the middle of their heads. They will vote to change the name to Mexico Springs. But before all the Americans get out of Union Springs, someone will have to grab the American Flag. Look away, look away. Dixie is gone. Now, learn Dixie in Spanish and Arabic.

I Love Alabama, but not the Hate!

When I think of Alabama, why do you think our state is Number One? We run and jump better than anyone. Remember Jesse Owens in the Olympic Games? When he showed the world that people from Alabama were number one. Showed Adolf Hitler where he was from. What about Joe Louis, our Native Son from Alabama, King of the Ring. The Bear with a checkerboard hat took the sideline. We all know he was the chosen one. I love Alabama with all my heart. I love the state but not the hate. Think of all the wonderful people we got, and we all love a good fight. We got in our heart, but some of it has been misplaced down through history. We did a lot of things wrong. We helped turn human beings into slaves and beat them with whips and put them in chains. But all of that was a long time ago. But in this time and day all that hate has not gone away. I love Alabama but not the hate.

John Lewis went to walk across a bridge, and Alabama State Troopers tried to take his life away. His blood still remains a stain on that bridge to this very day. All this blood just to vote and let little children go to a good school. Somebody placed a bomb and