Mahlaynee Cooper is a poet, teaching artist, and the founder of Speak Ya Peace NC.
United States Colored Troops — My Heroes
The legacy of the U.S.C.T. is deeply rooted in slavery.
It’s the story of how our soldiers fought to be free —
and foremost, it’s the unquestionable reason why
we honor them for Veterans Day
and commemorate them on Juneteenth.
Can we sit with this for a moment,
and understand the courage and the heart of these Black men?
Can we comprehend the fearlessness that it took?
This is the history they’re wanting to remove from the schoolbooks.
The Battle at Forks Road was a triumph
born from our tragically lived conditions.
Close your eyes and imagine for a minute —
we were enslaved on plantations,
living in inhumane conditions,
while oppressors gathered their families
to watch the lynchings,
as a cultural rite of passage,
without even flinching.
Our women were forced into the master’s bedroom,
taking on the role of his bed wench,
feeding and nourishing his babies
as they suckled from our breast.
These are some of the thoughts
that must have passed through our ancestors’ hearts and minds
as they decided to walk into battle
during this moment in time.
The love they had for us
gave them the courage to fight.
These brothers heard the voice of right —
girding their waists with truth,
dressed in the breastplate of righteousness,
sent on a mission into the battlefield to die,
fighting so that future generations of us might live.
I need us to take a stand
as we take a moment of silence for their bravery.
Let’s put respect on the known and unknown names
of our decorated brothers
who fought for the restoration of our humanity.
I am in awe.
We celebrate and commemorate
their sacrifices made for you and me —
by the United States Colored Troops,
A.K.A. the U.S.C.T. —
my heroes.
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