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39 standing ground Demetrice Anntía Worley Little brown children, hear the elders’ wise voices. They have earned the privilege to sit on porches, to tell, what you call stories, but what they name life—black men and women farmed poor Mississippi soil; weighed down their tongues with no sir / no ma’am; separate but unequal was the norm; as janitors, maids, factory laborers, they protected their families with food, homes, education. They survived so we could live. They stood their ground. We create our tomorrow when we heed our elders’ / ancestors’ shrewd proverb— “Standing, with their roots firmly planted, is the reason why Balboa trees don’t fall.” ...

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