Once long ago, I was sitting with a much older ancestor of mine, just keeping time--WASTING time, really... I was actually pleased to be in his company because he was known to drop little bits of knowledge, every now and then, whenever the mood hit him.

It was rumored that he had went away to college, years ago, in the segregated south but had given up on the system because--like today--it had no place for a independent, intelligent, blak man...."Nothing but an agitator..," sniffed most of my family. But I loved him for his spirit which never stopped fighting against the seemingly impossible....

We were sitting outside, enjoying a glorious summer day, watching the kids playing in the burning heat. As always, we sat in silence, surveying the street scenes being played out in front of us as we relaxed upon our front stoop.....

Suddenly, my ancestor spoke: "You know, it's all a GAME.........."

I shifted eagerly from my seated position, waiting for him to explain himself. When he didn't...I asked, "WHAT is a game?..."

He turned to me, a frown covering his face. "LIFE!  Life in this country for blak folks is just a stupid game being played by ignorant people with NO regard for our well-being........"

He cleared his throat and went on. "Have you ever played CHESS?"

"No, I've never played the game of chess before, but I've SEEN it played many times," I answered.

"Well, if you can understand THAT game...you can understand how this system works,"  he said with a slight grin on his face.

"And how is that?" I asked.

His grin quickly turned into a look of scorn. "Just THINK for one second!" he spat out. "One side is black and the other side is white......

"The GAME doesn't begin until the WHITE side moves first. Just like in this society. The white man dictates the affairs of the country and the blak man is forced to bring up the rear."

I had to admit to myself that he had a point. "Go on..." I said.

He looked me, up and down, then went on. "Okay, your first group of pieces on the board are called 'pawns'. They always move forward, head first, into danger never deviating from their course. They are robots. And, they are the first ones taken out because they are expendable......

"The masses of the poor people in this country are the same way. They are robots and followers. They wave flags and follow orders with no thought of what the heck is really going on....The government plays them any old way and if they are taken out--SO WHAT...They can be sacrificed for the TOTAL good of those who profit under the cover of darkness. They are expendable....'Useless eaters' to the powers that be..."

He smiled to himself, conscious, that he was on the right track.

And, once again, I had to admit to myself that he was making loads of sense. He stared across the street for a moment, then went on:

"Now, the bishop is like a Baptist preacher--he's moves from SIDE to SIDE. He's a SIDEWINDER. He'll take any side in an issue.....sometimes EVERY side. The preacher will go from Africa to Europe jumping all over the place, talking out both sides of his mouth....

"That's how they colonized The Mother Land. They taught them how to pray on their knees while they ran off with the whole darned country. They gave them a "pie-in-the-sky" story...lying all the while. That's the job of the preacher--the preacher infiltrates and influences."

I now had some reservations about where this conversation was leading to, but in order to keep peace, I wisely kept them to myself......

"O-kay.." I said. He smiled and continued.

"The knight is like the average soldier. In stead of coming straight at you....he'll step up to you and then sneak off to the side to do his dirty work. He makes you think that he's 'up in your face' then--all of a sudden--he changes direction. It's all strategy. Can you dig it?"

"Yeah," I answered. The air was filled with laughter as we chuckled to ourselves.

"Now check this out," he said, "The rook is shaped like a castle...that signifies the system...Because that's exactly what they try to do:

"Set their castles or system up in other countries and impose their form of government on the people who live there. Once he has his castle in your land--you might as well kiss ma-ma good bye....This is called 'neo-colonization'...."

"You learn new something everyday...." I said, amazed by his intelligence.

He grinned and went on. "The black queen is a powerful piece. She can move in any direction on the board. She can move between both societies, black and white. The unconscious black woman, here, does the same thang. She tries to co-exist, peacefully, in both worlds--black and white...

"And, that will not work. The bible states that a 'slave can't serve two masters'. Because it will come a time when a person will have to choose whom they will serve, or where their loyalties lie.... 

"And she has to realize that the blak world is hers and hers alone. She doesn't have to share it with anyone. In the white world she is just a servant and a follower. In the blak world she is the QUEEN and mother to our children. And soul mate to the blak man. WE are the world--TOGETHER!"

"Are ALL blak women like that?" I asked.

He shook his head, "NAW, remember I said the UNCONSCIOUS blak woman. Some blak women have no choice but to be strong..."

I smiled and asked, "Okay, okay, I see where you're coming from. But, what about the king?"

His smirk cut right through me. "Fool, the game don't end until the white king has got the blak king in 'check', and the blak king HAS to capitulate! He has run out of options! He must concede! Checkmate, baby!! And, that's wish of most white men in this U.S. of A:

"For the blak man to give in and stop fighting the system. Then, THEY will have triumphed and all will be lost. They'll keep the blakman in 'check' at all times...And he'll never get out...

"Now, you may think I'm crazy for saying all these things, but you better latch on to every bit of it. Keep on living--you'll see."

I sat for a while with the knowledge that I had just gained running, like an antelope, through my head. We said nothing more to each other that day. We just sat, watching the parade of life file past us.

But, as the days have turned into years and decades, I often go back in my mind to that hot summer day. And, it never fails to bring a smile to my face. 

And, laughter to my soul.