Roots Poem by Qiniso Mogale

Many don't know who they are
Many are ignorant of where they come from
Many are direction less
Many are swept away by winds
Many are swept away by floods
Their roots are shallow
They are easily uprooted.

They have forsaken their culture
They are without a heritage
They have turned their backs on who they are
They are pretending to be other people
They don't know their history
They have no recollection of the past
They go forward blindly
They resemble people with amnesia.

Africans are acting like Europeans
Africans are acting like Americans
They buy skin lightening products
They undergo plastic surgeries
They buy Brazilian hair
They are ashamed of African hair
They are without roots.

Let them rediscover their roots
Let them search for their roots
Let them be firmly rooted
Let them be firmly established
Lest their children are lost forever
Lest their children hold them in contempt
for being spineless
for being rootless.