The Little Black Slave That Could

A story written By Woodring Saint Preux
Dedicated to President Barack Obama

Once upon a time,
In a tiny island not far away
There once lived
A little black slave that could

He was the son of an African king
But nobody knew

His father gave up his throne in Africa
and chose the fate of his fallen people,
To become a slave,
A slave in a new world,
On a tiny island,
Far far away from home

Growing up,
The little black slave prince that could,
He had no idea that one day,
He would return his people back to glory

As the years went by,
The slaves suffered,
The slaves were beaten,
The slaves were divided,
The slaves were humiliated,
But they never forgot their roots

They wanted to be free again,
They wanted to believe again,
They wanted to be equals again,
They wanted to live freely ever after

The slaves of the tiny island not far away,
They were once free men and women,
Just like their new masters

The little black slave that could,
Although he was born a slave,
He learned about Africa from his father, the king

The little black slave that could learned that
He was more than a slave,
He was a man with dignity, with brains,
He learned that he came from a long dynasty of kings

The little black slave that could knew what to do
He thought himself how to read and write
The little black slave that could read,
And read, and read some more...
The little black slave read every book he could

It wasn't long before the little black slave that could
Earned the respect of every man
In the tiny island not far away

One day,
A group of slaves in the tiny island revolted
They said "enough is enough",
They decided they no longer wanted to be slaves

The little black slave that could stood up and said:
"I will lead you, my people, I will lead your revolution"

All the slaves trusted the little black slave that could
He knew that, to really make a difference,
He had to rise up and become great, like his father, the king

The little black slave that could grew up
And he became a great general

The little black slave that could abolished slavery
On the tiny island not far away
Suddenly, black people all over the island were free
And the little black slave that could became their governor

The little black slave that could became so powerful
That the owners of the plantations in the tiny island not far away,
They feared the little black slave that could
Even the big bad king of the tiny island not far away was afraid

One day the big bad king sent his brother-in-law, the big bad general,
And all his soldiers, to the tiny island not far away
To capture the little black slave that could and
To enslave all the black people again

"Capture the one who calls himself
'First of The Blacks',"
Said the big bad king,
"And bring him to me."

When the big bad general and his soldiers
Arrived on the tiny island not far away
It was too late for them
The slaves already tasted freedom
And would not give it up
Not without a fight,
Not ever again

They cried loudly:

"Liberte Ou La Mort!"

The little black slave that could was a great leader
He decided to confront the big bad general and his soldiers
He fought, and he fought,
And he fought some more...
But the big bad general and his soldiers,
They were just too powerful for him and his men

The big bad general won the battle,
He arrested the little black slave that could
He put him on a big bad ship,
And he sent him back to the big bad king

While on the ship,
En route to the big bad king,
The little black slave that could said something,

Something powerful,
Something meaningful,
Something all the slaves of the tiny island not far away,
And all in the people in the world would never forget

The little black slave that could said:

"By overthrowing me,
You have killed only the trunk of the tree
Of liberty of the black people,
It will grow back by the roots because
They are deep and numerous."

When the little black slave that could met the king,
The big bad king put the little black slave that could
In a big bad dungeon,
On top of a mountain,
Forever and ever

"That's what you get,"
Said the big bad king,
"For messing with me"

"Your people will be slaves again,"
Shouted the big bad king
"They will be slaves, forever,
and ever, and ever..."

The little black slave that could was cold,
The little black slave that could was starving,
The little black slave that could was neglected,
The little black slave that could was left to die,
Alone.

One day,
The little black slave that could died,
But his dreams,
His dreams did not die with him.

The roots,
Of the tree,
Of liberty,
They grew back strong

All the big bad kings in the world,
and all the armies in the world,
They did not have enough power
To stop the slaves of the tiny island not far away
From becoming free men and women again

They cried loudly:

"Liberte Ou La Mort"

The people of the tiny island not far away,
They fought,
And they fought,
And they fought some more...

Then one day,
They won the fight for liberty
And lived freely ever after

Then all the big bad kings,
All over the world,
They were very upset,
And they were very afraid

So, All the big bad kings in the world,
They kept the island secret
For a very long time,
They kept it a secret,
They told nobody about
The tiny island not far away

All the men and women on the island,
Although they were living freely ever after,
They were not allowed to travel,
They were not allowed to spread the message

But that did not matter...
The message spread itself anyway...
Thanks to the spirit of
The little black slave that could

The roots...
Of the tree...
Of liberty...
Grew even stronger

Far beyond the walls
Of the tiny island not far away
The wind carried the message of liberty
To other black slaves all over the new word

When the news reached the other slaves in the new world
They too started to fight for their liberty
They fought, and they fought,
And they fought some more...

All the big bad kings in the world,
And all the armies in the world,
They did not have enough power
To stop all the slaves in the world
From becoming free men and women again

Then one day,
All the black slaves,
All over the world,
They lived freely ever after

Then one day,
Many many years later,
In a big country not far away
Because of the spirit
Of the little black slave that could,
A black man became
The most powerful man on the planet.

The roots...
Of the tree...
Of liberty...
Grew even stronger

Free at last, free at last,
Thank god all mighty,
They were free at last

And they lived freely, happily, ever after

The end..., for now.

Story © 2008 Woodring Saint Preux

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