Dance With The Devil

 I see you. I see you very clearly Mr. John Smith, or David Green, or Charlie Brown. The only thing brown about you is the bullshit you spew to our people and our governments and our businesses when you come to develop (read: plunder) our nations. Don’t think for even a second that I am at all deceived by your hearty cackle at the table of our delicacies. Unlike my peers, I am not swayed by your curled vowels; you can return your English to the Queen herself, for all I care. I can hear beneath the veneer of your boardroom buzzwords. You wouldn’t know the meaning of grassroots if I cut one up and  served it in your salads. I’ve caught you sanitizing your hands after shaking deals into existence. I’ve seen you dodge contact with the people that handle your luggage. I’ve watched your smile fade when backs are turned, ripe for a stabbing. And it kills me to watch my people offer themselves up for your taking. I see the women we come across wonder if your pockets run as deep as their privates. Can’t even blame them, might as well return the generational favor and milk you for whatever you’re worth. 

I loathe you. I loathe you deeply Mr. Bob Campbell, or Steve Carr, or Bryan White. With the white in your beard, the yellow in your teeth and the pink of your mask that hides the devil’s grin behind it. I hear how you talk about Human Resources and know you see us as just another resource to mine. I would say you treat us like dirt but I’ve seen our actual soil be even more valuable to your kind than our people. You delight in our cultures but their custodians are ‘barbaric’. I refuse to exist for your consumption. I refuse to repackage my reality for your comfort. I will no longer-

“That brings your total cut to about 7 million dollars if this all works out. How does that sound, Sidibe?”

...

I let out a long hearty laugh. 

“You’ve always been one of my favorite people, Richard. I knew this was a blessed partnership. That sounds just fine by me.”

And then I shook hands with the devil, my soul now sold to the highest bidder.