Elegy for Terry Collins
Oh, Terry
Tip of the spear
Look of the Lion King
Dapper Swagger Classic
Like your uncle Malcolm X
Yo Mama Ella Collins was bad too
Didn’t she run Boston?
Paid Malcolm’s way to Mecca
You and your brother Rodnel
Royal brothers I say
Glad to know you both
Your wife daughters
The KPOO family
Joe Rudolph taught us all how to talk on radio
No matter how many takes
You interviewed me so many times
I know we got a book in KPOO archives
Oh, Terry
It is the changing of the guards
Soldier, you are relieved of your post
Let the next generation carry your coffin
Let them study your life of revolution
Revolution is beyond color
Change is revolution pure simple change
Oh, Terry, you did all you could to make change
Take chains off yo brains
you preached til you could no more
What shall we do alone exhausted
solitude
inundated with isolation
terrified in our rooms
watching
elders moving to ancestorhood
Joe Rudolph The King of KPOO RADIO
Joe left his legacy for us to grow don't you know
Your buddy and mine passed on in the night
Judge George Corbett
No judge was more just than Commissioner Corbett in court
gave every nigga a break
And our buddy Speedy
Fillmore revolutionary in the night
WTF
Warriors fall like bowling pins
African proverb says, “The king is strong and hearty
But he shall not live forever.”
Oh, Terry, how much can we take of Babylon
how long?
Oh, Lord, how long as this been going on?
They say at 39 Mlkjr had body stress of 60 year old
Malcolm X about 38-39 too
body stress same
Oh, Terry, you made it to 85
In NYC Communist Party women said
Communists live long time
No matter, Terry
You lived and did revolutionary acts for all to see
Terry, you freed everybody
your wife, children, comrades, community, world
and me!
Love you, Terry
My heart is broken
I want to cry
Tears don't come
Like Mama said
when my brother and i were in juvenile hall
I said Mama, my brother going to CYA
Judge said he lettin' me go because of my grades
honor student juvenile delinquent
Mama, why ain't you cryin'?
When we outside juvenile hall after judge decision
Mama said, "Son, I might not be crying on the outside but I'm
crying on the inside."
Oh, Terry, I love your revolutionary life, a model for generations to come.
Hip Hop generation say we failed 60s revolution
Daughter said same, “Dad you failed, so we got to finish the job.”
I said to daughter, “Do you have the FBI, CIA, National Guard, local Police
After your asses? You graduated Yale, Stanford, Harvard, PhDs in whatever you please
Gender studies
Critical Race Theory
Have you faced the police
Have you stripped butt naked in the line up
Did you hold your nuts/vaginas and cough for the pigs
Did you sleep after your BLM rally in the holding cell
With your head by the commode
Amiri Baraka said, “Is it really difficult for you, Hip Hop generation?”
Imagine his sons Mayor and Chief of Staff in Newark, New Jersey
Children of revolution like Terry’s daughters and mine
(See Laney College BAM 50th Celebration Intergenerational Panel, P-Span TV)
Oh, Terry, our work in not in vain
Children grandchildren coming strong
Like Garvey said
Look for them in the Whirlwind!
--Marvin X
7/8/21
Elegy for Terry Collins
Oh, Terry
Tip of the spear
Look of the Lion King
Dapper Swagger Classic
Like your uncle Malcolm X
Yo Mama Ella Collins was bad too
Didn’t she run Boston?
Paid Malcolm’s way to Mecca
You and your brother Rodnel
Royal brothers I say
Glad to know you both
Your wife daughters
The KPOO family
Joe Rudolph taught us all how to talk on radio
No matter how many takes
You interviewed me so many times
I know we got a book in KPOO archives
Oh, Terry
It is the changing of the guards
Soldier, you are relieved of your post
Let the next generation carry your coffin
Let them study your life of revolution
Revolution is beyond color
Change is revolution pure simple change
Oh, Terry, you did all you could to make change
Take chains off yo brains
you preached til you could no more
What shall we do alone exhausted
solitude
inundated with isolation
terrified in our rooms
watching
elders moving to ancestorhood
Joe Rudolph The King of KPOO RADIO
Joe left his legacy for us to grow don't you know
Your buddy and mine passed on in the night
Judge George Corbett
No judge was more just than Commissioner Corbett in court
gave every nigga a break
And our buddy Speedy
Fillmore revolutionary in the night
WTF
Warriors fall like bowling pins
African proverb says, “The king is strong and hearty
But he shall not live forever.”
Oh, Terry, how much can we take of Babylon
how long?
Oh, Lord, how long as this been going on?
They say at 39 Mlkjr had body stress of 60 year old
Malcolm X about 38-39 too
body stress same
Oh, Terry, you made it to 85
In NYC Communist Party women said
Communists live long time
No matter, Terry
You lived and did revolutionary acts for all to see
Terry, you freed everybody
your wife, children, comrades, community, world
and me!
Love you, Terry
My heart is broken
I want to cry
Tears don't come
Like Mama said
when my brother and i were in juvenile hall
I said Mama, my brother going to CYA
Judge said he lettin' me go because of my grades
honor student juvenile delinquent
Mama, why ain't you cryin'?
When we outside juvenile hall after judge decision
Mama said, "Son, I might not be crying on the outside but I'm
crying on the inside."
Oh, Terry, I love your revolutionary life, a model for generations to come.
Hip Hop generation say we failed 60s revolution
Daughter said same, “Dad you failed, so we got to finish the job.”
I said to daughter, “Do you have the FBI, CIA, National Guard, local Police
After your asses? You graduated Yale, Stanford, Harvard, PhDs in whatever you please
Gender studies
Critical Race Theory
Have you faced the police
Have you stripped butt naked in the line up
Did you hold your nuts/vaginas and cough for the pigs
Did you sleep after your BLM rally in the holding cell
With your head by the commode
Amiri Baraka said, “Is it really difficult for you, Hip Hop generation?”
Imagine his sons Mayor and Chief of Staff in Newark, New Jersey
Children of revolution like Terry’s daughters and mine
(See Laney College BAM 50th Celebration Intergenerational Panel, P-Span TV)
Oh, Terry, our work in not in vain
Children grandchildren coming strong
Like Garvey said
Look for them in the Whirlwind!
--Marvin X
7/8/21
HELLO BROTHERS, SISTERS AND EVERYONE:
I regret to inform you that our BELOVED TERRY COLLINS, passed on joining the ancestors, at 2:45 AM this morning at UC Hospital in San Francisco, Calif. Some of us spent precious hours yesterday with Terry at his request, up in Terry's ICU room with his family. Thanks to the UC ICU staff that allowed a Bending of the Rules during the Covid Pandemic period, I counted about 10 people at once in the room.
I will send you information on the arrangements for Terry's Life Celebration Service it is expected to be at the Western Addition Cultural Center some time near the end of this month. Thanks for all of the support.Love & Peace, Benny
*********************
Our brother and comrade Terry “The Beloved” will be missed. Sparring with him seemed at times the only way for me to engage him in conversation. His lived experience and his nose for news and detail was like that of a pit-bull investigative reporter. Though we may not have always been in agreement, his opinion came from a place of integrity, and his perspective always mattered. Recently, Terry and I learned of our common ancestral heritage out of Louisiana (my father‘s side)—the Collins family. I will never forget the moment that I told him; we both smiled ateach other with a special warmth and pride when I called him ‘cousin’. I give thanks for Terry’s long-standing and faithful commitment to the cause of equal justice, for all brothers and sisters, of every rank and hue, particularly those most marginalized. May he now be among the most noble and courageous of our ancestors, able to enjoy eternal peace.
No! Terry has been our lynchpin, our conscience, our guide. He leaves a huge void in the world - the truth he preached, the love he radiated. Miss his wisdom & excitement already - and his dapper style! Terry Collins - Presente!
Donna Amador
**********************************************
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I heard last night that Terry passed away. We will miss him, his voice, spirit and struggle for all of us.
With Warmth and Solidarity,
Steve Zeltzer