Seeds of Resistance
This poem was performed by five members of our community as part of the Great Seed Festival at the Garden Museum, October 2014.
In the end, everyone joined in a resounding chant for the last verse!
My Seed
I am an indigene, of the marginal lands
I am an artefact, of your constructs.
My whole anatomy has been divided up, you see
Quite arbitrarily
Reclassified: into flower, stem and shoot
Mind and body, Soul and root
Reclassified: Into class, gender and race
Allotted different kinds of space
But I am who I am!
My seed!
They stole my seed!
They pillaged
Raped
Extracted
Ransacked
Nicked
Pinched
Lifted
(are they kleptomaniacs?)
They took
Patented
Mined
Grabbed
Borrowed without permission
Robbed
Bio-hacked
Thieved
Walked off with
Tapped
Made off with
Exploited
Bio-pirated
Suppressed
Manipulated
Raided
Fleeced
Pickpocketed
Cheated
Stripped
Deprived
Removed
Denied
Withdrew
(not that we knew)
Plundered
Alienated
Raided
Pirated
My seed!
This seed was the originator
Original –
The ‘wild-type’ –
Aboriginal.
This seed was the source of all seed
This seed was curated by my womb!
I trace a long line through my genetic legacy,
Right back to the honey bee
When we all lived in harmony, the angiosperms and we…
We evolved together!
We trace a lineage forward to the human race
It’s why we talk about One Love
“One Love! One Heart! Let’s get together and feel alright“
And it is why all that plundering is such a disgrace
dis grace, dis race, dis race, race, race, race
You see, when my seed was taken; you also took my story too
How we had our way of interacting, transacting, acting within nature
We said, ‘As above and so below’
We blended in with nature, so
We cultivated her, we let her grow
But then the greedy ones came and
Took
Pillaged
Raped
Extracted
Ransacked
Nicked
Pinched
Lifted
(are they kleptomaniacs?)
They took
Patented
Mined
Grabbed
Borrowed without permission
Robbed
Bio-hacked
Thieved
Walked off with
Tapped
Made off with
Exploited
Bio-pirated
Suppressed
Manipulated
Raided
Fleeced
Pickpocketed
Cheated
Stripped
Deprived
Removed
Denied
Withdrew
(not that we knew)
Plundered
Alienated
Raided
Pirated
My seed!
My Yam! Cultural ambassador of my land!
My oil palm, my multipurpose tree!
– WHAT TREE DID I SAY? –
Went to make Palmolive soap and others that you see
My shea butter, one of many natural oils!
– WHAT TREE DID I SAY? –
Went to make food and cosmetics, business spoil!
My bitter leaf, hot leaf, afang, eru, amaranth, taro, so many greens I can’t number
Demolished when they cut my forests to plant imported species for their plunder!
My bitter leaf, hot leaf, afang, eru, amaranth, taro, so many greens I can’t number
Demolished when they cut my forests to plant imported species for their plunder!
NOW they say that our environments are vulnerable –
To ‘environmental degradation’
“Loss of the topsoil”, wholesale ‘farmer infestation’!
No more the domain of great diversity and abundance –
But ‘degraded’ and almost empty,
A ‘Recipient’ only
To exotics from other lands
But
If Lions were Historians, tales of hunting would glorify the hunter
Now man the hunter tells the stories, these tales glorify the punter!
If Lions were Historians, tales of hunting would glorify the hunter
Now man the hunter tells the stories, these tales glorify the punter!
Got to tell it like it is
Seed from Africa and Asia and Jah knows where else, taken to the Indies and Africa West
Because the botanists and the traders they thought that what they knew was best
Used my seed to till the earth,
To draw the plough, they drew my blood
Foreign seeds were sown, watered by my sweat
Grew mighty profits from my body and my mud
Used my seed to till the earth
To draw the plough, they drew my blood
Foreign seeds were sown, my sweat watered them
Grew mighty profits with my body and my mud
JPMorgan, RBS, Lehman Brothers and Yale,
They’ve heaped up so much profit, could make a black person turn pale!
Though we don’t mention reparation, seems like our labour just went
The seed has suffered, is still suffering, five whole centuries energy spent!
My body was PHARMACEUTICALLY POISONED through artificial fertilizers and chemicals – to make the seeds grow fast
That’s Mama Earth violated and abused, LAWD, how much longer can this last?
Neeeeeeeeewsflaaaaaaaaaaash!!!!!
They have invaded us again!
True, true, news, my friend!
They have invaded us again!
Not content with the profit from the seed
They have inserted their proboscis
BLOOOOOODLETTTERS!!!!!
Now they want to make us bleed!
New alliances resemble older Scrambles for the land
Africa’s bank of biodiversity, now they want it on demand!
Not content with
Stealing
Pillaging
Raping
Extracting
Ransacking
Nicking
Pinching
Lifting
(They must be kleptomaniacs?)
They are taking
Patenting
Mining
Grabbing
Borrowing without permission
Robbing
Bio-hacking
Thieving, I mean T’IEFING!
Walking off with
Tapping
Making off with
Exploiting
Bio-pirating
Suppressing
Manipulating
Raiding
Fleecing
Pickpocketing
Cheating
Stripping
Depriving
Removing
Denying
Withdrawing
(By now it is getting BORING)
Plundering
Alienating
Raiding
Pirating
Secret meeting… cheating…
African seed companies have now been taken over!
BY THE BIG ‘Gene Alteration Daddy’!
GM Criminals to NOW to OWN the seed and the African BODY
IT is OUR BIODIVERSITY they want to REPLACE
OH JAH!
It seems like a conspiracy to poison all the AFRICAN HUMAN RACE!
What do we want, my mother?
Seeds of Freedom!
Seeds of Sovereignty!
Seeds of Resistance!
Seeds of Authority!
Seeds of Justice!
Seeds of the past!
Seeds of Culture!
Seeds that last!
Seeds of Freedom!
Seeds of Sovereignty!
Seeds of Resistance!
Seeds of Authority!
Seeds of Justice!
Seeds of the past!
Seeds of Culture!
Seeds that last! Seeds that last! Seeds that last!
Seeds that last! Seeds that last! Seeds that last!
Mama Udongo, Oct. 2014
Garden Museum, London
