Delores Thornton
Poet
Delores Thornton is a licensed, ordained minister and life long Indianapolis resident. An award-winning author, Thornton is also a small press publisher, and playwright who starred as world renown poet Mari Evans as part of Onyx Fest 2022,
A filmmaker, Thornton has written, directed and starred in feature and short films. One of her short films, Ida Mae 2 was part of the Short Film Festival at Arts For Lawrence at Theater at the Fort, in 2022.
Thornton has enjoyed enormous success in the past few years for her Spoken Word which speaks to racial conditions in America.
DeloresThornton.org
India Cruse Griffin
A Salute to Juneteenth
©2021 Delores Thornton
Is it vanity or extreme insanity
Decency is criticized Lunacy is normalized
Burdens causing the heaviest of heaviness
We’re existing in a bubble
And, we’re so confused
After careful observation and examination
Of the Emancipation Proclamation
We’re in deep trouble
And we’re still being misused
Oh, the pomp and circumstance
And dreams of a realistic chance
Now, we’ve been set free thrice
Once from the British in 1776
In what was called the War of Independence
For us that freedom didn’t take
In 1863 we had to have a remake
Only to discover it didn’t free every
Sister and every brother
So, in 1865 with Juneteenth, we had to have another
Still, we had soldiers dying without honors or commendations
Black bodies were still swinging in the breeze from Southern trees
Like Christmas decorations
So, after over 400 years of injustice and being used
We know we are not getting the forty acres
But, what about the mules
Oh, I’m sorry I just stopped by to give you a blessing
Not to burden you with a Black History lesson
But, you see we’re still a bit confused