We Wear The Mask

Some muthafuckas at the job were hating on me today, going at my boss about some stupid petty shit without ever addressing the issue with me. So my boss has to pull me away from my desk and have a one-on-one with me in our conference over this bullshit. I was so frustrated that I said what I had to say about it and walked out.

I was talkin' to my partna at work about it and he encouraged me to be cool, while reminding me of fact that unemployment is up 6% and that he and I both know when we (african-americans) are at work we must Wear the Mask and wear it tight.

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)

We Wear The Mask

We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!

Paul Laurence Dunbar was the first African-American to gain national eminence as a poet. Born in 1872 in Dayton, Ohio, he was the son of ex-slaves and classmate to Orville Wright of aviation fame.

Although he lived to be only 33 years old, Dunbar was prolific, writing short stories, novels, librettos, plays, songs and essays as well as the poetry for which he became well known. He was popular with black and white readers of his day, and his works are celebrated today by scholars and school children alike.

His style encompasses two distinct voices -- the standard English of the classical poet and the evocative dialect of the turn-of-the-century black community in America. He was gifted in poetry -- the way that Mark Twain was in prose -- in using dialect to convey character.