WEBVTT

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I wrote a poem for NASA--

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[LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE]

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--called "Quilting
the Black-Eyed Pea--

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We're Going to Mars."

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"We're going to Mars for the
same reason Marco Polo rocketed

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to China, for the same
reason Columbus trimmed

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his sails on a dream of spices,
for the very same reason

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Shackleton was
enchanted with penguins,

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for the reason we fall in
love; it's the only adventure.

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We're going to Mars because
Peary couldn't go to the North

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Pole without Matthew Henson,
because Chicago couldn't

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be a city without
Jean-Baptiste du Sable,

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because George Washington
Carver and his peanut

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were the right
partners for Booker

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T. It's a life-seeking thing.

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We're going to Mars
because whatever is wrong

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with us will not
get right with us,

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so we journey forth
carrying the same baggage,

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but every now and then leaving
one little bitty thing behind--

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maybe drop torturing
hunchbacks here, maybe

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drop lynching Billy Budd
there, maybe not whipping

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Uncle Tom to death, maybe
resisting global war.

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One day looking for
prejudice to slip.

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One day looking for hatred
to tumble by the wayside.

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One day maybe the
whole community

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will no longer be vested
in who sleeps with whom.

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Maybe one day the Jewish
community will be content,

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the Muslim community
will be at peace,

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the Jewish community will be
at rest, and all the rest of us

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will get great meals at holy
days and learn new songs

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and sing in harmony.

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We're going to Mars because it
gives us a reason to change.

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If Mars came here,
it would be ugly.

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Nations would ban together to
hunt down and kill Martians,

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and being the stupid,
undeserving lifeforms

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that we are, we
would also hunt down

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and kill what would be
termed Martian Sympathizers,

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as if the Fugitive Slave
law wasn't bad enough then,

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as if the so-called war on
terrorism isn't pitiful now.

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When do we learn, and what
does it take to teach us things

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cannot be what we want,
when we want, as we want.

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Other people have
ideas and inputs,

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and why won't they
leave Rap Brown alone?

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The future is ours to take.

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We're going to Mars because
we have the hardware to do it.

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We have the rockets and the fuel
and the money and the stuff.

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And the only reason
NASA is holding back

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is they don't know
if what they send out

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will be what they get back.

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So let me slow this down.

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Mars is one year of
travel to get there

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plus one year of
living on Mars plus one

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year to return to Earth equals
three years of Earthlings

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being in a tight space,
going to an unknown place

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with an unsure
welcome awaiting them,

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tired muscles, unknown
and unusual foods,

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harsh conditions, and no known
landmarks to keep them human,

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only a hope and a prayer
that they will be shadowed

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beneath a benign hand, and there
was no historical precedent

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for that except this.

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The trip to Mars can
only be understood

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through Black Americans.

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I say, the trip to Mars
can only be understood

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through Black Americans.

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The people who were
chained and enslaved

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immediately recognize the men
who chained and whipped them

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and herded them into
ships so tightly

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packed there was no room to
turn, no privacy to respect,

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no tears to fall without
landing on another.

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Were not kind and
gentle and concerned

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for the state of
their souls, no.

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The men with whips
and chains were

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understood to be killers,
feared to be cannibals,

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known to be sexual predators.

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The captured knew they were
in trouble in an unknown place

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without communicable abilities
with a violent and capricious

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species.

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But they could look out and
still see signs of home.

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They could still smell
the sweetness in the air.

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They could see the
clouds floating

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above the land they loved,
but they reached a point

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where the captured could
not only not look back.

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They had no idea which
way back might be.

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There was nothing in the
middle of the deep, blue water

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to indicate which
way home might be,

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and it was that moment when
a decision had to be made.

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Do they continue
forward with the resolve

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to see this thing through,
or do they embrace the waters

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and find another world?

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In the belly of the
ship, a moan was heard,

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and someone picked up that
moan, and a song was raised.

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And that song would
offer comfort and hope

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and tell the story.

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When we go to Mars
it's the same thing.

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It's Middle Passage.

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When the rocket red
glares, the astronauts

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will be able to see themselves
pull away from Earth.

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As the ship goes deeper, they
will see a sparkle of blue,

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and then one day, not only
will they not see Earth.

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They won't know
which way to look,

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and that's why NASA needs
to call Black America.

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They need to ask us, how
did you calm your fears?

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How were you able to decide you
were human even when everything

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said you were not?

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How did you find the comfort
in the face of the improbable

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to make the world you
came to your world?

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How was your soul able
to look back and wonder?

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And we will tell
them what to do.

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To successfully go to Mars and
back, you will need a song.

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Take some Billie
Holiday for the sad days

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and some Charlie Parker
for the happy ones,

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but always keep at least one
good spiritual for comfort.

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You will need a slice
or two of meatloaf,

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and if you can manage it, some
fried chicken in a shoe box

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with a nice, moist
lemon pound cake.

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A bottle of beer because
no one should go that

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far without a beer and
maybe a six pack so

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that if there is life
on Mars, you can share.

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Popcorn for the
celebration when you

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land while you wait on
your land legs to kick in.

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And as you climb down the
ladder from your spaceship

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to the Martian surface, look
to your left and there you'll

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see a smiling community
quilting a black-eyed pea,

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watching you descend."

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