Gorgeous George by Hakim Bellamy
Dear Champ,
you were our Gorgeous George,
Black Vegas,
a warrior
who would wear our Black
and die for our skins
you were not humble
you were everything we were not allowed
to be
like pretty, so pretty
you were rich, loud
and on TV
a hero in the flesh
even when you turned your front lawn
into a drive-in
for the neighborhood children,
from TV-less homes
your personality towered
over the big screen
you could illuminate an arena
light it up
before you knocked their lights out
our gold medal flower
a bronzed Adonis
live and direct from Olympic Rome
full blooming as soon as you got home
to a country that would not recognize
your rose
when Burdines Department Store
didn’t allow your kind
to try on their clothes
you should have given them the shirt off your back
and showed them your belt
Champ,
you were never one for being whipped
that is why I am left speechless
watching you tremble
for the beatings you took in our ‘stead
the racism you couldn’t out run
the slavery you couldn’t duck
the hate you couldn’t punch
…
but then,
I remember how you could never shut up
a poet in a sea of fists
you are the same reason so many colored boys
choose life in the ring
because it was the one place
you could control your environment
and our imagination
more than fast hands
you were unbelievable feats
the only A-lister in Miami
without a drip of drug or drink
more pugilist than pimp, married to the game
never an adulterer of the sport
so abstinent they thought you were gay
so obstinate they thought you were crazy
like my teenage students do,
when I tell them you were clean
because it’s hard to believe that you were that disciplined
before Allah made you
Muhammad Ali
before Holmes, Frazier and Spinks
before Foreman and Foster
Sonny Liston and Sonny Banks
Your mouth made you transparent
cause Lord knows
Having a glass jaw was never quite your thing
you told the world you were a minister
and you went to the mat for what you believed
loved your country enough, to raise your hands for money
but not enough to raise a gun
for anybody
you painted canvasses
with your own blood, sweat and fears
for our pleasure
and because you knew the real enemy
they didn’t let you fight for three years
you said you lost nothing
gained everything
like “peace of mind”
and that’s when you became our hero
the greatest that ever lived
and it had nothing to do with who you hit
but who you didn’t…
you shook up the world
and it’s still shaking
all those hits you took for us
now you’re still shaking
and I pray
the best prayer I know how to pray
that you are teaching us your dance
teaching us how to love
with our hands
how to not fight
when we have to
you taught us the butterflies
and the bees
you told the American government
No,
I’m not.
not who you think I am
not who you want me to be
you told them
you have a new name
and when they wouldn’t say it
you made them read it
we like to pretend fighters ain’t smart
but you’re a genius
so all that
to say this…
Dear Champ,
your black fist
taught me the difference
between fight and forfeit
that Black is MORE than beautiful
Black is gorgeous.
Click here for access to the Audio version of this poem
© 2014 Hakim Bellamy | All rights reserved
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Hakim Bellamy
Hakim Bellamy is Albuquerque’s Inaugural Poet Laureate. He is also a scholar, educator, musician, and poet. Community Publishing has published Hakim Bellamy’s Samuel’s Story, a multimedia children’s story featuring the music of DJ Flo Fader and the illustrations of Melvin Mayes available in Print and Digital editions.
Community Publishing brings local artists of all mediums together in creative collaborations for distribution as Multimedia Books while promoting literacy in our communities. We are proud to be a community partner and digital marketer at the Rail Yards Market and the Monte Vista Fire Station. Need help with your web presence and social media marketing? Click here to find out how we can help you!
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