Friday, October 3, 2008

Your Black World: Brothers In Flight: A Poem For College Basketball


Brothers in Flight

By: Bruce Edwards


Young brothers ballin’

Dunkin’, shootin’, scorin’

High priced coaches in their Armani best

Corporate logos pinned to their chest

Best teams in the land

All wanting Final Four glory

But behind the hoop and hype

A totally different story

A story of Black Gladiators

Performing incredible round-ball feats

More blacks on the court

Than in the arena seats

Sponsors, media and of course the schools

All making big money

Everybody getting paid

All but those who upon their backs

The money is shamefully made

College basketball

In a sorry, sorry state

All you need do

Is check the black graduation rate

Exploitation

Academic manipulation

The sham and the shame of higher education

NBA training ground

Where brothers think they will play

White players sit the bench and cheer

They are the ones who graduate

While boosting the team GPA

Brothers for hire

Jumping higher and higher

Campus heroes

Some living large

Through a variety of sources

Trying to stay eligible

With bogus and remedial courses

Billions of dollars generated from the game

Brothers in flight

The trade off is a shame

All but the brothers

Have a huge financial stake

Brothers being used

For the millions others make

Financially, it’s unfair

Morally, it’s not right

See them score

Brothers in flight


BE

© 2001


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