Read the full poem here.
Suggested Reading
Video will return here when scrolled back into view
Angela Bassett Reveals the Mission: Impossible Birthday Surprise That Got Tom Cruise Dancing
Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and the director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research at Harvard University. He is also the editor-in-chief of The Root. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
Straight From 
Sign up for our free daily newsletter.