Zahra Gordon

When I was about 13 or so one of my uncles found me listening to something that if I remember correctly was Foxy Brown. The next day he was back at our house and shoving an India.Arie CD into my hand, “This is what you should be listening to, not that foolishness” (No offense Foxy). I don’t know what happened to the Foxy CD, but I listened to Acoustic Soul again today. The CD begins with a 50-second dedication:

This is in remeberence of our ancestors: Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, & Donny Hathaway. And all that came before you opened up a door. ‘Cause of you change gone come.

And it got me thinking about two things. 1. An article & poem I wrote for Friends of the Congo dealing with paying tribute and remembering important people/ancestors who may have been sidelined. 2. When I wrote about my DC Carnival costume and its meaning I myself forgot that I had made a list the night before which I carried with me on Carnival day; a list of leaders, thinkers, martyrs, organizations at the time of the 1970 February Revolution. No analysis here, just making some space for names often unheard and work sometimes un- or under recognized. Therefore, this is in rememberance of: